Indictators are the Helm equivalent of the LEDs that you see dotted all over broadcast equipment. They let you show status information from equipment on your Helm panels. So let’s see how to use them.
Linking an indicator to a device property
On this panel I’ve added an Indicator control (1) by dragging it onto the panel from the Parts Bin. With the Indicator selected, I clicked the ellipsis (2) on the PropertyLink setting to open the Property Link dialog (3). And in the dialog I selected Status Color for this Lynx frame synchroniser card. I’ve also previously linked a Text Label (5) to the same property so we can easily see what’s going on. Now let’s see how to set up the indicator to display the various status values.
Setting up the Indicator
Indicators work by comparing the linked property value to a set of 8 Match Values and displaying the corresponding Picture. So if the property matches MatchValue1 then Picture1 is shown and so on. The first correct match sets the picture displayed.
The picture values are pre-loaded by default with coloured LED images in this order: red, green, blue, yellow. The remaining pictures are empty until you define them.
If nothing matches then Picture1 is displayed.
Match values for the Lynx card
The card returns the values ‘red’, ‘green’ and ‘yellow’, so our task is to set the Indicator MatchValue parameters so that the LED colors correspond. We do this by simply typing the values in the boxes.
Now let’s see that in action
We’ve got the Lynx Apollo software set up here to simulate card operation so that we can change the status. Now the staus is green. Let’s go in and change that by simulating a fan failure.
Red status
And the Helm indicator LED becomes red.
Now something less disastrous – an input that won’t lock.
Yellow status
Again the Helm LED reflects the card status and lights up yellow.
Permitted match values and indicator behaviour
Indicators match property values as strings or boolean values.
When a match occurs the Indicator is put into the state that corresponds with that match condition and stays there until a new match condition is met. So for example our LED above is now yellow. It will stay yellow even if the value sent from the card changes to “purple” because there is no MatchValue set for the “purple” condition.
It’s important when setting up Indicators to bear this in mind and create Match Values for all possible conditions. Consequently as things stand it is not recommended to use Indicators with continuous numeric properties.