This document describes the procedures and utilities for building real time Web based graphic screens under Visual Basic 6.0. These screens may be animated using real time data from a control system. Screens may be displayed on any workstation using a browser such as Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5.

This document describes the basic procedures for building and publishing a screen. An overview of the process is as follows:

Use Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 to build the basic screen
Animate the screen using the provided real-time objects
Publish the screen to the proper control system, making it accessible via the web from any network connected Internet browser
Install and configure the proper utilities on the control system to provide access to process variables
Display the page on a workstation using Microsoft’s Internet Explorer

Naming Conventions

...

Object Name	How to Name	Prefix	Example
Vector Project	The previous name of the screen under the Vector system. Not to be changed. (Not used in OPC system)	None	3Main
OPC Project directory	Created when new screen is generated through the tpriNtRt administrator program. Directory needs to be renamed without the mill site abbreviation. In this case, the ‘l’ prefix was moved from the directory name.	None	\3Main\
OPC Project	Automatically created with appropriate prefix. The file will have a .vbp extension*	l	l3Main
OCX Control (that you are building)	Automatically created with appropriate prefix. The file will have a .ctl extension* **	ucl	ucl3Main

The names above should be used as both the Project and Control names as referred to in Visual Basic, as well as the name of the file that is stored on the hard drive (the one in parentheses next to the Project or Control name in VB).

* = The “l” prefix is an abbreviation of the site, in this case short for “Location”

** = The “uc” prefix is an abbreviation of “User Control”

Building a Basic Screen

Overview

The following procedure defines the steps involved to build a basic screen using Visual Basic 6.0. The tpriNtRt administrator program is used to begin a new Visual Basic screen. All the user has to do is add controls and design the layout of the page. Below is a screenshot of the Visual Basic design interface and descriptions of the layout:

Starting a New Screen

Run tpriNtRt administrator program D:\locNtRt\tpriNtRt\Apps\tpriNtRtAdmin\tpriNtRtAdmin.exe
Enter screen name, e.g. ‘l3Main’ with appropriate mill site prefix, in this case ‘l’ for Location
Click ‘Generate New Screen’
A list of steps for creating the demo screen is displayed; those items that are checked have been automatically finished, those that are unchecked must be performed manually

Adding Labels to the Form

A Label object will always be used for the non-changeable background text on a screen.

On the toolbox to the left, choose the label control.
Position the mouse where the object should be placed on the screen, hold down the left mouse button and drag to the desired size.
Naming the object is optional, but should start with lbl.
Set properties for label such as font, fore color, and back color.

For adding additional objects to the screen such as TelePro controls, refer to Section 6.5 [LINK] of this document

Saving the Project

Select the Menu option File, Save Project
Select the Menu option File, Save uc[name].ctl

Testing the Page

Remember to close all instances of Internet Explorer when making your page. If not, the page will not be updated correctly.
Select the menu option Run, Start With Full Compile (or Ctrl+F5). This ensures that all code is tested and all variables are defined.

After you are done testing the screen, you must hit the stop button ◼ in order to edit the code or view the page again.

Publishing Pages

Pages can be quickly rebuilt and/or published using a program called tpriPublisher.

D:\locNtRt\apps\tpriPublisher\tpriPublisher.exe, this program allows the user to select multiple screens and can rebuild, publish, or both with a single mouse click.

Helpful Hints

Save often:
Every time you make a change that you wouldn’t want to do again, SAVE your project. Ctrl+S, click disk button, or File, Save all work.
Auto-Complete:
In the editor, on-the-fly syntax and programming assistance will give you a pull down list for completing what you started typing. You can just press tab to write out what is highlighted.
Fine Movements:
Instead of moving objects on the screen with your mouse (which lacks precision), you can use the ctrl + arrow keys to move the object in fine increments.
Lock Controls:
Once you have finished designing the page, you should lock the controls in place so that they are not accidentally moved (there is no way to undo a move). This feature can be toggled on and off from the Format menu. Even if Lock Controls is enabled, you can still move them using the ctrl + arrow keys.
Aligning objects:
To make the objects on your screen align horizontally or vertically, select the objects (either by dragging a selection box with your mouse over them or by individually clicking on each object while holding down the ctrl key) and in the Properties window, set the Top or Left to a number. This will change the properties for every object you have selected.
When editing the code, I move the arrow keys, but nothing happens:
Sometimes when you are working in the code view, the focus will still be on an object in the object view. Every time you press an arrow key or page up/down, the focus is actually changing on the object view. The fastest way to stop this is to close the object view.
Tab Order:
It is a good idea to think about the tab order of all of the objects on the screen. If the user tabs to a non-data input object, it is possible that s/he may not see the focus outline and think the screen has frozen. Suggestion: allow tabbing only to data entry boxes and command buttons.
Toggle between object and code view:
Ctrl + tab switches the window, but both must be open first in order to toggle between them.
Debugging the code:
There are many helpful tools used for debugging the code. You may set a breakpoint with the F9 key (the breakpoint stops the code before that line is executed), step through the code with the F8 key, and run the code again with the F5 key. Once the code is at a break point, you can view variable values by hovering over them with the mouse or entering the Immediate Window and typing “?” followed by your variable and press enter (example: ?myString). You may also add a watch on any variable you choose. This is a quick way to view many values at any breakpoint.
‘Conflicting names were found…’ error received when opening a VB project:
This error is cause when the user-control (*.ctl file) was originally saved in lower case and then later saved using upper case letters. In this case, VB is case-sensitive, but it does not update the code inside the .ctl file. You have to manually change the code in the .ctl file to get rid of the error. Just open the .ctl file in your favorite text editor and do a search for “Attribute VB_Name =”. This will bring you to the line in the code that needs to be changed. Just edit the file name that is in quotes to the correct case and you are done.

Adding TelePro’s Standard Controls to a Visual Basic Web Screen

Adding a Text Box

A tpriTextBox will always be used for data display and to input text.

Select the “uctpriTextBox” control and position it on your screen.
Below is a list of all the properties that are specifically used for the TpriTextBox control:

Property Name	Type	Default Value	Description
tAutoValidateMinMax	Boolean	False	Indicates whether or not the text box should try to validate user-entered data against the min/max values specified in the data dictionary
tBackReadOnlyColor	OLE_COLOR	White	Background color of read-only text box
tBackWriteDisplayColor	OLE_COLOR	&H0080FFFF& Light-yellow	Background color of editable text box while in display mode
tBackWriteEditColor	OLE_COLOR	&H0080C0FF& Light-orange	Background color of editable text box while in edit mode
tChanged	Boolean	False	Determines if user has edited the text box
tDataSource	Variant	Empty string ("")	This is the name of the host variable
tDisconnectedStr	String	“###”	Text in textbox when disconnected from the OPC server. May not be used if tDataSource = ""
tEnabled	Boolean	True	Enables the textbox on the screen
tFocusColor	OLE_COLOR	&H0000FF00& Green	Sets the color to outline the textbox when it is in focus
tFormat	Variant	Empty string ("")	Formats how the text is displayed
Tlocked	Boolean	False	Toggles between display and edit mode
tResetStr	String	“@@@”	String to be displayed when waiting for an update from OPC server
tResetToStr	Boolean	True	Determines whether to display the tResetStr string when waiting for an update
tText	String	Empty string ("")	Text displayed in textbox

Adding an Active Shape

A tpriActiveShape will always be used to data display shapes.

Select the “ucTpriActiveShape” control and position it on your screen.
In the properties window for this object, edit the properties necessary for this shape.
Below is a list of all the properties that are specifically used for the tpriActiveShape control:

Property Name	Type	Default Value	Description
BackColor	OLE_COLOR	H000000FF (red)	Provides the "default" color for the shape (in the case that none of the bound conditions is true).
BorderColor	OLE_COLOR	Black	BorderColor for the shape. Remains the same at run time for any value.
BorderStyle	BorderStyleConstants 0 -Transparent 1 - Solid 2 - Dash 3 - Dot 4 - Dash-Dot 5 - Dash-Dot-Dot 6 - Inside solid	1	BorderStyle for the shape. Remains the same at run time for any value. May be changed at design time. The effect of setting the BorderStyle property depends on the setting of the BorderWidth property. If BorderWidth isn't 1 and BorderStyle isn't 0 or 6, BorderStyle is set to 1.
BorderWidth	Integer	1	BorderWidth for the shape. Remains the same at run time for any value.
FillColor	OLE_COLOR	Black	FillColor for the shape. Remains the same at run time for any value. Usually not used ("normal" FillStyle is transparent)
FillStyle	FillStyleConstants 0 - Solid 1 - Transparent 2 - Horizontal Line 3 - Vertical Line 4 - Upward Diagonal 5 - Downward Diagonal 6 - Cross 7 - Diagonal Cross	1	FillStyle for the shape. Remains the same at run time for any value.
Shape	ShapeConstants 0 - Rectangle 1 - Square 2 - Oval 3 - Circle 4 - Rounded Rectangle 5 - Rounded Square	0	Provides the different appearance of a shape. Remains the same at run time for any value.
Font	Font	MS Sans Serif/ Bold/ Size=12	Provides the font for any text shown inside the ActiveShape control. The text will be centered. If the font is changed, the height of the label area increases. Remains the same at run time for any value.
tNumTextLines	Variant ( >=1 and < 4)	1	Determines (with the font.size) the height of the ActiveShape label. Cannot be changed if the shape property is oval or circle.
tDataSource	Variant	Empty string ("")	This is the name of the host variable
tFormat	String	Empty string ("")	Reserved for "outside" use (probably OpcMgr).
tURL	String	Empty string ("")	Assigns a target web page to go to when object is clicked
tBlinkingPeriod	Variant	200	Provides the frequency of blinking (the number of milliseconds between the changes). Remains the same at run time for any value.
tBlinkShapeBackColor	OLE_COLOR	Black	The color of the "blind interval" of blinking. Affects the ActiveShape appearance only if the property txxTextBlinking = False and txxShapeBlinking = True (txx may be from t00 to t15). Remains the same at run time for any value.
tDisplayValue	Boolean	False	If the property is set to True, then the text label of the ActiveShape will show the Value instead of showing txxText
tDisconnectColor	OLE_COLOR	&H808080 (gray)	Color of Shape when disconnected from the OPC server. May not be used if tDataSource = ""
tValue	Variant		This property is responsible for the current presentation of the Active Shape
t00Text	String	Text	Text to show inside the ActiveShape if none of the conditions are true (the value is greater then any of the txxBoundValue)
t00TextColor	OLE_COLOR	Black	ForeColor for the text, if none of the conditions are true
t00TextBlinking	Boolean	False	If this property is True and t00ShapeBlinking is False, then the Text inside the control will blink with the period equal to tBlinkingPeriod (if none of the conditions are true).
t00ShapeBlinking	Boolean	False	If this property is True and t00TextBlinking is False, then the Shape will blink with the period equal to tBlinkingPeriod (if none of the conditions are true).
t01BoundValue	Variant		Right bound value for the interval # 1. If the Value < t01BoundValue ("<=" in the case of t01IncludeEquals = true), then all the t01 settings would be applied to the ActiveShape.
t01IncludeEquals	Boolean	False	If this property is True, then "<=" will be used in the comparison for the interval # 1 (versus "<" for the False)
t01Text	String	Empty string ("")	Text to show inside the ActiveShape if the Value is inside the interval # 1. If the tDisplayValue=True, then the actual value would be shown instead of t01Text
t01TextColor	OLE_COLOR	Black	ForeColor for the text if the Value is inside the interval # 1.
t01TextBlinking	Boolean	False	If true, then show the text blinking for the interval # 1.
t01ShapeColor	OLE_COLOR	Black	Color of the shape if the Value is inside the interval # 1.
t01ShapeBlinking	Boolean	False	If true, then show the shape blinking for the interval # 1.
t15BoundValue	Variant		Right bound value for the interval # 15. If the Value < t15BoundValue ("<=" in the case t15IncludeEquals = true), then all the t15 settings would be applied to the ActiveShape.
t15IncludeEquals	Boolean	False	If this property is True, then "<=" will be used in the comparison for the interval # 15 (versus "<" for the False)
t15Text	String	Empty string ("")	Text to show inside the ActiveShape if the Value is inside the interval # 15. If the tDisplayValue=True, then the actual value would be shown instead of t15Text
t15TextColor	OLE_COLOR	Black	ForeColor for the text if the Value is inside the interval # 15.
t15TextBlinking	Boolean	False	If true, then show the text blinking for the interval # 15.
t51ShapeColor	OLE_COLOR	Black	Color of the shape if the Value is inside the interval # 15.
t15ShapeBlinking	Boolean	False	If true, then show the shape blinking for the interval # 15.

Tips on using a tpriActiveShape

The following condition should be true:
t01BoundValue <= t02BoundValue <= ... <= t15BoundValue.

Thus all numbers would be divided into 1-16 intervals.

For any new value, the code running behind the control will sequentially verify the following conditions:

Value < t01BoundValue    ( Value <= t01BoundValue, if   t01IncludeEquals = True )

Value < t02BoundValue    ( Value <= t02BoundValue, if   t02IncludeEquals = True )

... 

Value < t15BoundValue    ( Value <= t15BoundValue, if   t15IncludeEquals = True )

If any of the above becomes true, then the verification would be stopped, and ActiveShape control will have Color, Text, and blinking flags that are associated with this txxBoundValue.

If none of them is true, then:

ActiveShape will have color specified in the BackColor property
Text from the t00Text property (or actual value shown, if the tDisplayValue = True)
Blinking flags from t00TextBlinking and t00ShapeBlinking.

If any txxBoundValue is not set (empty), then the rest of the sequence would be ignored by the control.

Example: if t05BoundValue is empty and the value is greater then t04BoundValue, the "default" settings would be used even if the following were true:

Value < t07BoundValue

Adding a Link Button

To add a tpriCmdButton object to an ActiveX screen, follow these steps.

Make sure the name is “ucTpriCmdButton” and select it.
While holding down the left mouse button, drag a box on the screen.
In the Properties window, type a name for your command button. The tpri default for command button begins with ‘tcb’; for example, a name could be “tcbOprMenu”.
To assign a target to the command button, scroll down in the Properties window to ‘tURL’. If the page you are linking to is in the same directory as your source page, then you don’t need ‘http://’. All you need is the name of the file and make sure it ends with ‘.asp’; for example the tURL could be “3OprMenu.asp”.
It is possible to link back to a screen by its relative calling order. For example “@BACK1” will call the previous screen. “@BACK3” will call 3 screens back. The tpriCmdButton also can link back to the previous menu screen whether it be last accessed 1 screen or 10 screens ago using “@MENU”.

Command buttons do not work when running the page from Visual Basic, so you will need to open Internet Explorer and type in the address where your .asp page is stored. For example: http://web.server/sys/MyScreen.asp

Adding Toggle Button

To add a tpriToggleButton object to an ActiveX screen, follow these steps:

Make sure the name is “ucTpriToggleButton” and select it.
While holding down the left mouse button, drag a box on the screen.
In the Properties window, type a name for your link button. The tpri default for a toggle button begins with ‘ttg’; for example, a name could be “ttgLawrhd”.

Below is a list of all the properties that are specifically used for the tpriToggleButton:

Property Name	Type	Default value	Description
tColorDisconnected	OLE_COLOR	&H00404040& (Dark grey)	Color of button when disconnected from the OPC server.
tColorNonZero	OLE_COLOR	&H0000FF00& (vbGreen)	Color of button when value does not equal 0, which usually means true
tColorTransmitting	OLE_COLOR	&H00E0E0E0& (Light grey)	Color of button when clicked and waiting to get updated form host
tColorZero	OLE_COLOR	&H000000FF& (vbRed)	Color of button when value equals 0, which usually means false
tDataSource	Variant	Empty string ("")	This is the name of the host variable to change.
tIncrement	Integer	0	0 = toggle Boolean value Positive # = amount to increment by when clicked Negative # = amount to decrement by when clicked
tValue	Integer	0	Sets the value of the toggle button

Adding a Bar Graph

To add a tpriBarGraph object to an ActiveX screen, follow these steps:

Under Project, Components (or ctrl+T) and select “tpriBarGraph”.
Make sure the name is “ucTpriBarGraph” and select it.
While holding down the left mouse button, drag a box on the screen.
In the Properties window, type in a name for your link button. The tpri default begins with ‘tbg’; for example, a name could be “tbgSprays”.

Below is a list of all the properties that are used to design the graph:

Property Name	Type	Default value	Description
Font	Font	MS Sans Serif, Regular, 12	Font for Bar Numbers. Recommended font is “small fonts” about size 7
tBackColor	OLE_COLOR	&H00000000& (Black)	The color of the background of the graph control.
tBarNumbersStyle	Integer	2	Option for bar number shown directly below bars. 0 - don't show numbers 1 - show numbers from 0 to (N- number of bars) For example: 0 to 30 for 31 bars 2 - show numbers from 1 to (number of) bars. For example: 1 to 31 for 31 bars
tBorderColor	OLE_COLOR	&H00FFFFFF& (White)	The color for the enclosing border box
tBorderVisible	Boolean	True	Option for displaying the enclosing border box
tBottomLineVisible	Boolean	False	Option for displaying the line above the Box Numbers (like X-axis)
tCenterLineVisible	Boolean	False	Option for displaying the Center line
tEngUnitBottom	Integer	-9999	Value at the bottom of the bar graph area in engineering units
tEngUnitCenterLine	Integer	-9999	Reference value: where the bars in the bar graph will ‘grow’ from. If the …
tEngUnitTop	Integer	-9999	Value at the top of the bar graph area in engineering units
tForeColor	OLE_COLOR	&H00FFFFFF& (White)	The color for Bar Numbers, BottomLine and CenterLine
tLeftBarDataSource	Variant	Empty string ("")	This is the name of the host variable to be graphed.
tLeftBarPercent	Integer	50	Percentage of the allotted space per line to take up
tLeftFillColor	OLE_COLOR	&H000000FF& (Red)	Color of the major graph (set of bars)
tNumBars	Integer	2	Number of bars that are to be graphed
tRightBarDataSource	Variant	Empty string ("")	This is the name of the host variable to be graphed.
tRightBarOffset	Integer	50	Amount that the left hand edge of the minor bars is to be shifted to the right
tRightBarPercent	Integer	50	Percentage of the allotted space per line to take up
tRightFillColor	OLE_COLOR	&H0000FFFF& (Yellow)	Color of the minor graph

Tips on using the tpriBarGraph

The (left and right) bar colors are chosen on the object properties.
When the bar graph control is first published, no bar data will be displayed
Each of the bars grow from the engineering unit centerline
The bars will not appear until after the first time the data has been received and passed (automatically or under program control with fSetLeftVals and fSetRightVals) to the tpriBarGraph control.
If a bar value is the equal to the centerline value, no bar will be drawn
If you associate (or pass directly) a variant with less elements than bars, the values will be assigned to the first bars from the left side of the bargraph
If you associate (or pass directly) a variant with more elements than bars, the first values of the variant will be assigned to the bars
The rectangular area allocated to the bar graph object is divided horizontally into ‘tNumBars’ equal BarSlot areas, where ‘tNumBars’ is the number of bars selected in the property box. Valid number of bars ranges from 1 to 60.
There are 2 interleaved groups of bars available on the control: Left and Right
The number of Left and Right bars is always the same.
The Left edge of each of the LeftBars always starts at the left edge of the BarSlot. The horizontal width of the LeftBars is LeftBarPercent of the BarSlot.
The left edge of each of the RightBars starts RightBarOffset percent into the BarSlot. The width of each of the RightBars is RightBarPercent of the BarSlot width.
If the values of tRightBarOffset and tRightBarPercent add up to be 100, the right edge of the right bar will extend to the left hand edge of the next bar interval. The two properties and the tLeftBarPercent can be played around with to maximize the readability of the graph.
Bar graph objects work when the page is run through VB or through IE.
Normally, the tpriBarGraph control will be automatically animated with the values of the data variable indicated in the tDataSource property. If this property is NULL, the animation could be accomplished by implementing code similar to the following example:

The demoBarGraph screen has the following Bar Graphs defined:

 SBar1:
    31 bars,
    Left and Right bars
    Engineering units are -5000 to + 5000, bars grow from 0 (center)
 SBar2:
    21 bars,
    left bars only
    Engineering units are 0 to 100, bars grow from 0 (bottom)


An example code snippet on how to pass values to the control follows:

Private Sub Command1_Click()
   Dim Test1(31) As Variant
   Dim Test2(31) As Variant
   Dim Test3(31) As Variant
   Dim i As Integer
   
For i = 0 To 30
    Test1(i) = -5000# + (i * 330#)
    Test2(i) = 5000# - (i * 330#)
    Test3(i) = i * 3#
    Next i
   SBar1.fSetLeftVals Test1
   SBar1.fSetRightVals Test2
   SBar2.fSetLeftVals Test3
End Sub

Adding a Coverage Bar Graph

A tpriCoverageBar control is a horizontal bar illustrating the location of a closed section within a wider region. Typically a tpriCoverageBar is tacked on below a bar graph to depict which bars are to be considered ‘valid’.

Make sure the name is “uctpriCoverageBar” and select it.
While holding down the left mouse button, drag a box on the screen, usually placed under a bar graph.
In the Properties window, type in a name for the coverage bar. The TPRI default begins with ‘tcg’; for example, a name could be “tcgSprays”.

Below is a list of all the properties that are used to design the graph:

Property Name	Type	Default value	Description
tColorData	OLE_COLOR	&H00FF0000& (blue)	Fore color of graph
tColorNoData	OLE_COLOR	&H00808080& (grey)	Back color of graph
tLeftData	Variant	-9999	This is the name of the host variable to be graphed on the left side.
tLeftEdge	Variant	-9999	Left edge bound value
tRightData	Variant	-9999	This is the name of the host variable to be graphed on the right side.
tRightEdge	Variant	-9999	Right edge bound value. Optionally set to SYSDATA.iFlatBarZones which stores the max number of flatness bar zones

Adding a Trend Graph

A trend graph requires three objects:

tpriTrendCtrl – Sets up the trend variables to be graphed
tpriTrendCom – Configures communications with the OPC trend server
ProEssentials Graph – Graph component where the trend variable is graphed

Follow these steps to setup a trend graph on an ActiveX screen:

Under Project, Components (or ctrl+T)
Scroll to locate and select Gigasoft ProEssentials Graph v3
This item should now be in your toolbox.
Click the Pegoa icon and drag a box on the screen.
Make sure the name is ”ucTpriTrendCtrl” and select it.
While holding down the left mouse button, drag a box near the Pegoa graph you want to associate the TrendCtrl to.

You may copy the Pegoa graph object once it is on the screen to setup as many graph objects as needed. When copying, click ‘Yes’ to create a control array.

The tpriTrendCom control is automatically placed in the corner of your screen.

The following table shows the proper default settings for the tpriTrendCom object.

Property Name	Type	Default Value	Description
tNewDataFromServerEveryMSec	Integer	1000	1000 = 1 second update from server
tNullValueIndicator	Integer	9999999	The value that will be substituted for null values in the data stream.
tRestartFlag	Boolean	False	This property indicates the status of a communication restart cycle.
tScanEnabled	Boolean	True	This property controls scanning of the Trend server.
tServerDataFreqPntPerSec	Integer	50	This should be set to match the Trend server that you are connecting to.
tTimeOutInterval	Integer	10000	10000 = 10 Seconds

The following list of Property setting is for the tpriTrendCtrl control.

Property Name	Type	Default value	Description
BackColor	OLE_COLOR	&H8000000F& (Gray)	This property identifies the color used as the background color for the object’s graphing area.
endTime	Integer	2140000000
ForeColor	OLE_COLOR	&H00FFFFFF& (White)	This property identifies the color used as the foreground color for the object’s graphing area. The grid lines and tick marks will be drawn in this color.
nDispVars	Integer	0	Number of variables to be trended.
PegTrend	Variant	Empty string ("")	Name of the associated ProEssentials graph
playbackMode	Integer	0
playSpeed	Integer	0
startTime	Integer	0
stepTime	Integer	0
TrendInfo	Option window		Click the button to bring up the Trend Setup window. From there, you can set the data-sources for the variables to be graphed and the colors and labels.
ttpPlayback	Integer	Empty string ("")
ttbAxisMax	Variant	Empty string ("")	If the value is fixed it should be set here. To allow the user to change this property during run-time, include a text input box in the design of the screen. Type the name of that textbox in this field. For example ‘ttbGraphMax’
ttbAxisMin	Variant	Empty string ("")	(see above)

Make sure you set a line color that is different than the background color.
At this point you should be able to run the screen and the graph will update.
The items list above should be all that is needed for a general-purpose display. Full details on all of the properties are available in the Gigasoft documentation.

Tips on using the Trend Graph

You only need one tpriTrendCom object on the page; it can handle multiple trend graphs.

For each ProEssentials Pegoa graph on the screen there needs to be an associated tpriTrendCtrl control.

If you are using the Pegoa graph for display only, you should set the TabStop property to False. This will take the object out of the tab sequence.

The tpriTrendCom object will generate X Axis timestamp labels and send them to the Pegoa graph. The user has the option to display or not display Xaxis timestamp labels. If Xaxis timestamp labels are to be used the ShowXAxis property controls this. Set ShowXAxis to PESA_ALL (0) = Grid, Grid Numbers and Axis Labels if you want to display the timestamp information.

If the graph has a user-definable Y-axis min and max, a trpiTextBox (use this one if the scaling values are to be stored in control program variables) or standard VB text box may be added to your screen to collect this information. The tYAxisMax and tYAxisMin properties allow this option. The tpriTrendGraph will check the values in your text box prior to each graph refresh cycle and if changed update the Y Axis scaling

Adding a Log Message Display

A tpriLogMsg control is used to display messages posted to a specified LogMsg queue.

Make sure the name is “ucTpriLogMsg” and select it.
While holding down the left mouse button, drag a box on the screen.
In the Properties window, type in a name for the LogMsg box. The TPRI default begins with ‘tlm’; for example, a name could be “tlmOprMsg”.

Below is a list of all the properties that are used to customize the LogMsg box:

Property Name	Type	Default value	Description
LogMsgName	String	“LogMsg”	Name of desired queue from which to retrieve messages.
histStart	Long	32	This number indicates how many historical messages to retrieve upon startup before waiting for new messages to be queued.
histLength	Long	512	This is the maximum number of messages to store in the list box at any given time. Additional messages will cause the oldest entries to drop out of the top of the message box.

Error Handling

General Errors

The following is an overview of the VB error handling logic for ActiveX screen code. Including the following in your screen code will provide an orderly handling of VB errors if they should occur.

In the case of an unplanned VB error the program will present a Windows message box reporting the error condition. Then the program will shut down and close the browser.

Several standard lines of code are required for each screen. The IobjSafe.bas module is automatically included in your project. The ErrRpt Subroutine called by the error handler is included in this code. The following is automatically included at the start of your code.

Option Explicit
Event GoToURL(Url As String)
Event ErrorTerminate()
Implements IObjectSafety

The following sample shows the base framework for a Sub or Function

Private Sub DemoSub() As Long)
Dim liTmp AS Integer

 

 On Error GoTo ErrorHandler             <- Set the location to branch to in case of error
 mbError = False                        <- Reset the error flag variable

‘ Start of your Code
‘ blah blah blah         
‘ End of your code

On Error GoTo 0

Turn off the error handler for this sub. This is important. If you omit this line it is possible that an error generated in some other section of the code will branch here and report the wrong failing program location.

Exit Sub

Exit (Note: If you have written a Function then change to Exit Function)

ErrorHandler:

The following is the general error handler. Based on the error number, the program will proceed. If your code may generate an error that is expected under normal operating conditions, then handle it here. If the error is not included in the list of Select statement Case numbers, then the code will call a general purpose reporting procedure.

Select Case Err.Number

Case 9

For example if error number 9 (Subscript out of range) is generated by a bad user data entry, then you may catch it here and respond.

MsgBox "The value you entered is not valid! Please check your input"

mbError = False

Case Else

ErrMsg ("DemoSub")

Update this text to indicate the Sub or Function name. The string will be included in the error message reporting.

You may also add any additional debug information.

End Select

If mbError Then

If mbError is true then the ActiveX code will call back to the browser via the ErrorTerminate event.

RaiseEvent ErrorTerminate
 Else
      Resume Next

If you handled the error and would like to have the program continue, then set mbError to False.

End If

End Sub

VB Runtime Errors

Following are the run-time errors defined by Visual Basic:

3

Return without GoSub

5

Invalid procedure call or argument

6

Overflow

7

Out of memory

9

Subscript out of range

10

This array is fixed or temporarily locked

11

Division by zero

13

Type mismatch

14

Out of string space

16

Expression too complex

17

Can't perform requested operation

18

User interrupt occurred

20

Resume without error

28

Out of stack space

35

Sub or Function not defined

47

Too many DLL application clients

48

Error in loading DLL

49

Bad DLL calling convention

51

Internal error

52

Bad file name or number

53

File not found

54

Bad file mode

55

File already open

57

Device I/O error

58

File already exists

59

Bad record length

61

Disk full

62

Input past end of file

63

Bad record number

67

Too many files

68

Device unavailable

70

Permission denied

71

Disk not ready

74

Can't rename with different drive

75

Path/File access error

76

Path not found

91

Object variable or With block variable not set

92

For loop not initialized

93

Invalid pattern string

94

Invalid use of Null

96

Unable to sink events of object because the object is already firing events to the maximum number of event receivers that it supports

97

Can not call friend function on object which is not an instance of defining class

98

A property or method call cannot include a reference to a private object, either as an argument or as a return value

321

Invalid file format

322

Can't create necessary temporary file

325

Invalid format in resource file

380

Invalid property value

381

Invalid property array index

382

Set not supported at runtime

383

Set not supported (read-only property)

385

Need property array index

387

Set not permitted

393

Get not supported at runtime

394

Get not supported (write-only property)

422

Property not found

423

Property or method not found

424

Object required

429

ActiveX component can't create object

430

Class does not support Automation or does not support expected interface

432

File name or class name not found during Automation operation

438

Object doesn't support this property or method

440

Automation error

442

Connection to type library or object library for remote process has been lost. Press OK for dialog to remove reference.

443

Automation object does not have a default value

445

Object doesn't support this action

446

Object doesn't support named arguments

447

Object doesn't support current locale setting

448

Named argument not found

449

Argument not optional

450

Wrong number of arguments or invalid property assignment

451

Property let procedure not defined and property get procedure did not return an object

452

Invalid ordinal

453

Specified DLL function not found

454

Code resource not found

455

Code resource lock error

457

This key is already associated with an element of this collection

458

Variable uses an Automation type not supported in Visual Basic

459

Object or class does not support the set of events

460

Invalid clipboard format

461

Method or data member not found

462

The remote server machine does not exist or is unavailable

463

Class not registered on local machine

481

Invalid picture

482

Printer error

735

Can't save file to TEMP

744

Search text not found

746

Replacements too long

Adding Property Pages to the ActiveX Control

...

The following sequence is used to add property pages to an ActiveX Control. This sequence was used to add property pages to the TelePro supplied controls. It is included here for documentation purposes only.

After loading your ActiveX Control in Microsoft Basic you click on Project —> Add Property Page.
Click on the icon of VB Property Page Wizard and on Open button. New window appears: “Property Page Wizard – select The Property Pages”. Two Property Pages are created automatically: StandardFont and StandardColor.
If you want to add a new one then you should click on the button “Add” and the new page name. Repeat this step as many times as you need. You also can change the order of pages using arrows at the left part of the window.
After all you click on the button “Next>”. In this window you can choose which properties will be in your pages (color and font properties are added to “StandardColor” and “StandardFont” automatically).
When all properties have been assigned to the pages click on “Next>” and finally on “Finish”.

Appendix

Variable Scope Prefixes

Scope	Prefix	Example
Global	g	gsUserName
Module	m	msUserName
Local to procedure	l	lsUserName
Argument by value (within a function)	av	avsUserID
Argument by reference (within a function)	ar	arsUserID

Variable Data Types

Use the following prefixes to indicate a variable's data type.

Data type	Prefix	Example
Boolean	bln	blnFound
Byte	byt	bytRasterData
Collection object	col	colWidgets
Currency	cur	curRevenue
Date Time	dt	dtStart
Date	d	dStart
Time	t	tStart
Double	dbl	dblTolerance
Error	err	errOrderNum
Integer	i	iQuantity
Long	Lng	lngDistance
Object	Obj	objCurrent
Single	sng	sngAverage
String	s	sFName
User-defined type	udt	udtEmployee
Variant	v	vCheckSum

Prefixes for Controls

Control type	Prefix	Example
3D Panel	pnl	pnlGroup
Animated button	ani	aniMailBox
Check box	chk	chkReadOnly
Combo box, drop down list box	cbo	cboEnglish
Command button	cmd	cmdExit
Common dialog	dlg	dlgFileOpen
Communications	com	comFax
Control (used within procedures when the specific type is unknown)	ctr	ctrCurrent
Data control	dat	datBiblio
Data-bound combo box	dbcbo	dbcboLanguage
Data-bound grid	dbgrd	dbgrdQueryResult
Data-bound list box	dblst	dblstJobType
Directory list box	dir	dirSource
Drive list box	drv	drvTarget
File list box	fil	filSource
Form	frm	frmEntry
Frame	fra	fraLanguage
Gauge	gau	gauStatus
Graph	gra	graRevenue
Grid	grd	grdPrices
Horizontal scroll bar	hsb	hsbVolume
Image	img	imgIcon
Key status	key	keyCaps
Label	lbl	lblHelpMessage
Line	lin	linVertical
List box	lst	lstPolicyCodes
MAPI message	mpm	mpmSentMessage
MAPI session	mps	mpsSession
MCI	mci	mciVideo
MDI child form	mdi	mdiNote
Menu	mnu	mnuFileOpen
MS Flex grid	msg	msgClients
MS Tab	mst	mstFirst
OLE	ole	oleWorksheet
Outline	out	outOrgChart
Pen BEdit	bed	bedFirstName
Pen HEdit	hed	hedSignature
Pen ink	ink	inkMap
Picture	pic	picVGA
Picture clip	clp	clpToolbar
Report	rpt	rptQtr1Earnings
Shape	shp	shpCircle
Spin	spn	spnPages
Text box	txt	txtLastName
Timer	tmr	tmrAlarm
UpDown	upd	updDirection
Vertical scroll bar	vsb	vsbRate
Slider	sld	sldScale
ImageList	ils	ilsAllIcons
TreeView	tre	treOrganization
Toolbar	tlb	tlbActions
TabStrip	tab	tabOptions
tpriActiveShape	tas	tasMillStatus
tpriBarGraph	tbg	tbgStress
tpriCoverageBar	tcg	tcgRotor
tpriCmdButton	tcb	tcbMainMenu
tpriTextBox	ttb	ttbMill
tpriToggleButton	ttg	ttgRunHold
StatusBar	sta	staDateTime
ListView	lvw	lvwHeadings
ProgressBar	prg	prgLoadFile
RichTextBox	rtf	rtfReport

Prefixes for Data Access Objects (DAO)

Database object	Prefix	Example
Container	con	conReports
Database	db	dbAccounts
DBEngine	dbe	dbeJet
Document	doc	docSalesReport
Field	fld	fldAddress
Group	grp	grpFinance
Index	idx	idxAge
Parameter	prm	prmJobCode
QueryDef	qry	qrySalesByRegion
Recordset	rec	recForecast
Relation	rel	relEmployeeDept
TableDef	tbd	tbdCustomers
User	usr	usrNew
Workspace	wsp	wspMine

Some Examples:

Dim dbBiblio As Database
Dim recPubsInNY As Recordset, strSQLStmt As String
Const DB_READONLY = 4                                               ' Set constant.
'Open database.
Set dbBiblio = OpenDatabase("BIBLIO.MDB")
' Set text for the SQL statement.
strSQLStmt = "SELECT * FROM Publishers WHERE _
          State = 'NY'"
' Create the new Recordset object.
Set recPubsInNY = db.OpenRecordset(strSQLStmt, _
          dbReadOnly)

Suggested Prefixes for Menus

Menu caption sequence	Menu handler name
File Open	mnuFileOpen
File Send Email	mnuFileSendEmail
File Send Fax	mnuFileSendFax
Format Character	mnuFormatCharacter
Help Contents	mnuHelpContents

VB Screen Building