Atomek Jan Schirrmachers Web

LEDControls - Reference

Contents

Applications
SegmentDisplayConfigurator.lpr
LedMeterConfigurator.lpr
SignalStrengthConfigurator.lpr
Packages
LEDControls
TBlinker
TSegmentDisplay
TLedMeter
TSignalStrength
Units

Applications

This 3 applications are for testing, demonstrating and some for code creation.

You can download the source code from GitHub or simply install their executables (Installer (Windows)).

SegmentDisplayConfigurator

Screenshot

Download this application, compile and run it to explore the rich features of the control TSegmentDisplay.

Define segment modules as a string like 8.8.8.8. or 88:88. Then enter a text that matches the modules like 12.34 or 12:20 or 12 20

Drag the previews window size, enter other property values, press <ENTER> and watch the changes.

LedMeterConfigurator

Screenshot

This application demonstrates the TSegmentDisplay control.

Download the applications sources, compile them to an executable and let it run.

Drag a level in the preview window to see the effects.

SignalStrengthConfigurator

Screenshot

Download the applications sources, compile them to an executable and let it run.

Packages

LEDControls.lpk

The package contains 4 visual components, all descendands of TGraphicControl. See the Intro and try the Configurators to explore them.

Download

https://github.com/Atomek61/LEDControls.git

Installation

Prerequisite: a Lazarus installation.

  1. Create a local directory like C:\Development\Lazarus\ATOMEK.Controls
  2. Pull LEDControls from https://github.com/Atomek61/LEDControls.git or, if you dont have Git, download LEDControls-master.zip and unpack it
  3. Make sure having BGRABitmapPack installed
  4. Open the package in Lazarus, compile and install it
  5. Create a new project and place the new components in "Atomek" onto a form, read the Intro and play around with the properties
  6. or load one of the configurator projects to play around with the new components

Usage

Read the Intro to learn the new controls.

TBlinker Reference

TBlinker is a graphical control which toggles between two images selected from a TImageList-component. A blinker always needs the ImageList assigned with a TImageList-component containing at least two images: A dark one and a bright one.

LEDs

Before using a TBlinker, place a TImageList on your form and fill it with some images. The above displayed led images are delivered with the package in the res folder.

To let a blinker blink, set its Active-property to true. If the Mode-property is bmContinuously the control will blink until it is stopped manually with Active:=false;.

In Mode=bmKeepAlive the control will blink once (or n times) and stay dark until the next Active:=true. This assignment may be repeated as often as needed - the blinking interval will be constant. Use this mode to show any active state, e.g. incomming data, an erroneous state and so on.

Properties

ImageList :TImageList

Mandatory: assign an existing ImageList with at least two images. One for the bright state and one for the dark state.

Some predefined LED 16x16 images are shipped with the package.

ImageIndexOff :integer

Index of the image when IsOn=false.

ImageIndexOn :integer

Index of the image when IsOn=true.

IsOn :boolean

If IsOn=true then the bright image (indexed by ImageIndexOn) is shown.

When the LED shall not blink, control its state by setting this property.

Active :boolean

Set this property to true to let the control blink.

If the control blinks continuously or only once is controller with the Mode-Property.

Interval :integer (ms)

Blinking Interval between bright and dark state in milliseconds.

Mode :TBlinkingMode
  • bmContinuously lets the control blink continuously until Active=false
  • bmKeepAlive lets the control blink after Active=true. The control becomes dark automatically after blinking KeepAliveBlink times.

Controls how often the control blinks when Mode=bmKeepAlive after Active:=true.

TSegmentDisplay Reference

Derived from TGraphicControl this control lets you display numbers in an LED 7-Segment display style.

Example: set Modules:='8.8.8.' and Text:='1. 3.' will display Example

Modules and Text must match. Otherwise the result may be undefined.

Properties

Modules :string

This property defines the "physical" modules of the display. Physical 7-segment displays would be selected from a vendor and assembled to a unit. In a similar way you have to select software modules and store them in the single string Modules. A parser will create a list of TModuleType objects corresponding to this definition.

The Text properties symbols will be assigned to the modules from right to left.

It is a good idea to create numbers for the Text with the Format function. Example:

Modules:='888.88';
Text:=Format('%6.2f', [Value]);

Important: An empty (dark) module needs a <SPACE> as symbol.
In other words: to realize a dark module, use <SPACE>. This is valid for all kinds of modules.

To get a blinking double-dot assign alternating <SPACE>- and ':'- symbols to the ':'-module.

Available modules and symbols:

ModuleDescriptionSymbols
8Simple 7-segment module0123456789ABCDEF-?
8.Simple 7-segment module with dot0123456789ABCDEF-?.,
:Double-dot:
_Spacer

Text :string

Assign a sequence of symbols to this property to display a value. The symbols must match the Modules-property. To display numbers use the Format function for filling the dark modules.

<SPACE> always displays a dark module.

The question mark '?' has a special meaning. It is a placeholder of a user-defined symbol. The OnDrawSegments event will be fired on each occurence of this symbol.

Alignment :TAlignment

Use taLeftJustify, taRightJustify, taCenter to adjust the modules inside the controls bounding rectangle horizontally.

The vertical size of the bounding recangle defines the modules height.

Design :TDesign

This is a container for a list of properties which define the modules layout.

Design.ModuleRatio :single (>0.0)

Defines the modules ratio Height/Width.

Design.SegmentRatio :single (>0.0)

Defines the broadness or thickness ratio SegmentWidth/ModuleHeight of the segments.

Design.TiltRatio :single (>=0.0)

Defines the tilt of the modules as Tilt/ModuleHeight.

Design.SlitRatio :single (>0.0)

Defines the width of the slit between segments. It is the ratio Slit/ModuleHeight.

Design.EdgeRatio :single (>=0.0)

Defines the corner width of the segment modules (bevel) as EdgeWidth/ModuleHeight.

Design.DarkVisible :boolean

Defines, if dark parts of the module have a dark color or the background color.

Design.InnerGlow :boolean

An inner glow tries to give the segments a more realistic look. It shows a circular gradient from insode to outside as if there is a lamp shining behind a glass. As a drawback this makes the whole module slightly darker.

For LCD styled modules this makes no sense because they dont have an LED.

Design.BackgroundColor :TColor

Defines the controls background color.

Design.BrightColor :TColor

Defines the segments color, when the segment is on.

Design.DarkColor :TColor

Defines the segments color, when the segment is off. If DarkVisible=false then this value is ignored.

Design.Style :TStyle

  • ssClassic is the most common style of 7-segment displays
  • ssBlock has straight blocks as segments
  • ss80th similar to ssBlock but looks nicer because the corners are rounded.

Padding :integer (>=0)

Defines the space in pixels around the modules.

GapRatio :single (>=0.0)

Defines space between the modules refered to the module height.

OnDrawSegment :TDrawSegmentsEvent

Define this callback to decide which segments are bright. Assign a set of TSegment values to the var Segments. See for the position of SegA..SegG

Example:

procedure SegmentDisplay1.OnDrawSegment(Sender :TObject; SymbolIndex :integer; var Segments :TSegments);
begin
	if SymbolIndex=3 then
		Segments := [SegA, SegD, SegG];
end;

7-Segment Module

TLedMeter Reference

Derived from TGraphicControl this control lets you display single precision values as bars consisting of small led elements.

See the Intro for examples.

Properties

Level :single

This is the value to be displayed, if the BarCount=1.

The valid range is defined by MinLevel and the Level f the highest ColorNode if Style=lsNormal. If Style=lsBiDirectional then MinLevel is always 0.0 (the bar is symetric around 0.0).

Note: the lowest segment (if Style=lsNormal the MinLevel-segment, otherwise the zero-element in the middle) will always flow if the control has Enabled=true.

BarCount :integer (>=1)

Defines the number of bars to be displayed. If BarCount=1 then you can set the current level with Level:=value or with Levels[0]:=value. If BarCount>1 then you can set the levels with array-property Levels[i]:=value.

ColorNodes :TColorNodeCollection

A list of TColorNode-Elements, each defining a level, an OnColor :TColor and an OffColor :TColor. In the simplest case there is only one element and the bars will be monochrome.

The Level property defines the level to which the segments are to be drawn bright with the defined OnColor. The dark color of the segment is defined OffColor-property.

A simple way to assign color nodes at runtime is to call SetColorScheme with one of the parameters: lcsSimple, lcsSound, lcsRainbow.

MinLevel :single

If the Mode is lmNormal this property defines the lowest possible value of the current level.

Defining a negative value is usefull, if the control displays logarithmic values.

SegmentSize :integer (>=0)

This property defines the height of a segment. The width is determined by the available space. The number of segments of a bar is determined by the SegmentSize and the available space.

A value of 0 indicates that the segments are quadratic.

GapSize :integer (>=0)

This defines the slit size between segments and bars.

Orientation :TOrientation (loVertical, loHorizontal)

Yes. It is what it sounds like.

Style:TStyle (lmNormal, lmBiDirectional)

lmNormal means that the level range is from MinLevel to the highest nodes Level.

lmBiDirectional display a symetric bar wich is good for displaying values which move around zero.

AutoZero :boolean

This property lets all values automatically decrease against the minimal level. The decreasing speed is controlled in milliseconds by the AutoZeroInterval-property.

AutoZeroInterval :integer [ms]

This interval controls the speed of decreasing the levels if AutoZero=true.

A value of 20 to 50 milliseconds is a good choice.

MaxLevel :single (readonly)

The value of the last ColorNodes level.

Range :single (readonly)

The led-meters range (Mode=lmNormal: MaxLevel-MinLevel, Mode=lmBiDirectional: 2*MaxLevel).

Levels[Index :integer] :single

Assign values to this array to display the levels if BarCount>0.

Methods

function ItemAt(x, y :integer; out Col, Row :integer; out ALevel :single) :boolean;

Use this function in mouse-events to find the bar (Col), the segment (Row) and the level to which the mouse points to.

procedure SetColorScheme(Value :TColorScheme);

Use this procedure to select one of the predefined ColorNodes collection.

TSignalStrength Reference

Derived from TGraphicControl this control lets you display a single value like a signal strength.

See the Intro for examples.

Properties

BarCount :integer

Number of bars to be displayed. This is usually 4.

MinLevel :single

Lowest possible level. Use negative values if you display logarithmic levels.

MaxLevel

Maximum possible level (full-scale deflection);

Level :single

Current level to be displayed.

GapSize :integer

Slit between the segments in pixel.

OnColor :TColor
OffColor :TColor

Colors of the segments.

Units

controls.blinker.pas

The control TBlinker is defined in this unit.

controls.segmentdisplay.pas

The control TSegmentDisplay is defined in this unit.

controls.ledmeter.pas

The control TLedMeter is defined in this unit.

controls.signalstrength.pas

The control TSignalStrength is defined in this unit.

registerledcontrols.pas

This unit is needed by the package to integrate the controls into the IDE. It links the symbols to the package and registers the controls in the palettes page "Atomek".

types.led

This unit contains some color definitions used by some of the led controls.