TAB order and actions

Displays, Symbols, Charts
1

Hi all.

I’m investigating using Factory Studio to replace an old … but effective … terminal based quality system operator interface. There is a lot goes on quite efficiently within the application based on entry and exit from screen fields through the use of the TAB or ENTER keys. Anyone who has worked on ‘vintage’ database applications may recognise this process.

Obviously, in moving to a modern graphical .NET environment many aspects of the original application are up for significant review. Having said that … it is clear when watching operators using the old application that navigation is very efficient … and it is hoped to maintain this efficiency with the replacement. As a result, it is likely that frequent use of a mouse/touch screen will ideally not form the basis of a Factory Studio application interface.

If that were to be the case, pre-determined navigation using the TAB/ENTER keys will likely be required. However, so far within my display construction experiments a haven’t found a way of specifying TAB order if this is required? Can anyone tell me if I am missing something … or how I can achieve this within a Factory Studio display?

Also, there are no Events corresponding to TAB-ON/TAB-OFF etc. for display objects … so I assume the process I have in mind is not well supported/suited within a mouse-centric display environment.

Is it possible to use the object Hotkey to do what I have described? I have been unable to find any to Hotkey use within the documentation. Could I allocate TAB as Hotkey for each relevant object and manage associated code and transition to the next object that way? Is there a much simpler approach I haven’t found?

Any advice will be appreciated.

Regards,
Greg Shearer

2

Hi Greg,

Just to confirm what you want, so basically you want to move through the object in the display using a button (for example TAB) and to select the object you want use another button (for example ENTER).

Using the hotkey as you said does not solve your problem?
image

Best Regards,
Tatsoft Team.

3

Hi again Eduardo.

I will need to do some trials to understand if Hotkey functionality will provide what I am after. Whatever the case, I am sure I will be able to build a reasonable interface, but I would like to ensure efficient operation similar to the existing arrangements.

A couple of things.

  • I haven’t seen anything to indicate the TAB order of objects. I assume this might default to the object number, but am not sure if that can be adjusted. I also realise that TAB order may not exist in this environment.

  • It might be useful to provide TAB-ON/TAB-OFF ‘Events’ for objects. This can allow for the automated population of transitted fields based on earlier visited and populated fields.

I will be able to experiment with this in a week or so. I am hopeful that use of ENTER and/or TAB Hotkey functions will support my requirements.

4

Hi Greg,

After doing the test, if you still feel the necessity of some additional feature, please send us an e-mail in: support@tatsoft.com

Best Regards,
Tatsoft Team.