Sensaphone SCADA 3000 Users manual - Manual (Page 237)

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Chapter 22: Distributed Control using Visual Basic
Properties of the Script Component
If you click once on the Distributed Control management screen, the property editor will dis-
play the component properties.
Listed below are descriptions of each property of the script component. Note that most of the
properties listed below will never have to be changed.
AutoRunDelay - Allows you to have the script program start automatically when
the realtime screen starts. Enter a number in units of seconds. A value of 0 dis-
ables the feature.
AutoRunInterval - Allows the script to restart automatically after a time period has
expired. Enter the time in seconds. A value of 0 disables this feature.
EditScript - Shows the filename of the associated script program. Double-clicking
the filename will bring up the script editor.
EntryProc - Name of the entry procedure for the script program (DO NOT
CHANGE).
ExitProc - Name of the exit procedure for the script program (DO NOT
CHANGE).
FileName -Path and filename of the associated script program.
Height - Height of the script control screen.
Hint - Text that appears when you move the cursor over the Distributed Control
management screen.
Language - Selection of development language. The choices are Visual Basic
script, Delphi script or Java script.
Left - Position of the left side of the script control screen.
ScriptState - Allows you to change the state (run/stop/idle) of the script program.
Status - Displays the current status of the script program.
TimeSliceTicks - Time (in milliseconds) the script is yielded during timer calls.
Top - Position of the top-side of the script control screen
Width - Width of the script control screen
ABOUT THe VISUAL BASIC LANGUAGe
Visual Basic ® is a structured programming language that is similar to other structured languag-
es like C. The structure of Visual Basic works as if you ask a question or pose a problem, and
then go through the simple steps of information gathering and action to solve the problem. For
example, if your alarm clock is ringing and you want it to stop ringing, you must hit the OFF
button to turn it off, otherwise nothing will happen. If you want the Distributed Control pro-
gram to turn off the alarm clock, you must first tell it how to recognize that the alarm is ring-
ing, then give it the command to turn the alarm off when it recognizes that it is ringing, other-
wise do nothing. To give the Distributed Control program this information, you must translate
English commands into Visual Basic commands.
The Visual Basic language structure is fairly simple. Each program must have a beginning and
an end. Each individual statement within the program must open, provide its information, and
then close. Think of it as writing sentences—without the proper sentence structure and punc-
tuation, you will get syntax errors, and the computer will not be able to receive the message or
understand what to do. There is much more information and detail on the Visual Basic
script language in the online help.