The table below show the basic tools I plan in the HMI Designer. This tool group is just to get us started and cover the basics that need to be in any GUI design. The list is not complete. Once this is covered we will move on to more advanced gauges and UI components.
| Select Tool | Allow you to click & select other components, select an area, move or resize components. Select tool will be top left in any group. |
| Rectangle | A standard rectangle on screen with colors, borders & text. |
| Ellipse | A standard ellipse on screen with colors, borders & text. |
| Polyline | A jointed line supporting color & style. |
| Polygon | A symbol composed of jointed lines with colors, borders and text. |
| Line | A simple line with color and style. |
| Button | A classic button. We will support several button styles with properties. |
| Frame | A rectangulare frame with or without border. Used to hold it’s own sub-group of components. |
| Checkbox | A check/radio box with both classic and extended styles |
| Listbox | Classic drop down list box allowing the user to select a pre-entered value. Will also have an option to edit content directly. |
| Editbox | Simple one-line edit box. Can be used for unfiltered or filtered text, numbers etc. |
| Textbox | Multi-line text box. Allow you to write formatted text with some of the features found in word processors. |
| Label | A simple text label. Can be stand-alone or allocated to a component. |
| Horizontal Scrollbar | Horisontal scrollbar. |
| Vertical Scrollbar | vertical scrollbar. |
| TreeGrid | A grid with tree options. Can be used as a grid, a tree or a combination. Many of the other basic components (not all) are available as in-line editors. |
| Toolbar | A toolbar is basically a frame with selectable tools. |
| Console | A classic, simple console allowing text out and in. |
| Real-Time Plot | A specialised line-plot designed to support very fast plotting and lot of data. Can be used to view data curves or simple things like Oscilloscope alike plots. |
| Property Editor | A specialised version of the TreeGrid that can be used to edit a list of properties. |
| Tab | A Tab button allowing the user to select one of many page-groups. |
| Menu Bar | A classic menu bar with various styles and options. |
| Pop Up Menu | A pop-up menu. |
| Status Bar | Status bar. |
| Title Bar | Title bar. |
A classic GUI designer will give you a dialog and allow you to design within it’s borders. We will suport this as awell, but I am also interested in designing on an unlimited scratch pad and letting the user select what is visualized by drawing “select rects” around the content. This works well with HMI designs that will cover more than is currently visible on a screen.