Graphic View

[Jack Barse]

On Dec 5, 2006, at 3:00 PM, Bill Brandt asked:

> Is there a way to display the value of a dimmable unit int eh graphic
> view or is it just the on/off icon?

Yes there is, but it's not explained in the documentation. The info  
in the AppleScript dictionary is complete, though.

The command to use is 'set label params of'. Essentially you create a  
new text label in the view then use 'set label params' to manipulate  
what the label shows. You'll have to find a way to update the view,  
too, or the value won't change.

For example, I've got a dimmable lamp called "Fireplace Lamp". The  
view, called Basement, has the icon for the lamp itself and a text  
field called "Fireplace Lamp Value". I use a repeating event to run a  
script called 'update views' that contains this line (among others):

set label params of "Fireplace Lamp Value" in view "Basement" text  
(round(value of "Fireplace Lamp")) as string

Every time the 'update views' script runs it reads the value of  
Fireplace Lamp and writes the value into the Fireplace Lamp Value  
text field. (Now that I think about it, using James' technique of  
watching for a status change in a member of a group and using that to  
trigger the view update would likely be more elegant that this sort  
of clunky way of repeatedly running a script. Sounds like a  
project. :-)  )

Anyhow, I use this feature to show motion sensor timestamps, as well  
as house temp and thermo set points, etc. You can manipulate fonts  
and colors via the command, too, so it's pretty easy to convey lots  
of info, at least as soon as you figure out the syntax.

HTH,
Jack