Data Actions

Data Actions are used to either:

- create a logical expression using a Variable/Dataref value that results in a true or false outcome.

- create a simple formula that allows a Variable/Dataref value to be adjusted to display properly.

 - create a state converter that converts a Variable/Dataref value to a suitable value that specifies the State a Component should reflect.

- convert a Variable/Dataref value to a suitable value for manipulating Component Gauges.

Understanding Logical Questions

A logical expression can be considered a question. E.g. is that a brown dog, true or false? In our case, the question is asked about the Variable/Dataref assigned in the Data area of a Snippet or State Configuration.

E.g. The AUTOPILOT AVAILABLE Variable has a value of 1 if the aircraft in use has an autopilot and a value of 0 when it doesn't. If we want an LED to light up when there is an autopilot available on the aircraft, we need to create the following question, "is the AUTOPILOT AVAILABLE Variable equal to 1, true or false?", which would be configured in a Snippet or State Configuration as follows:

Data: AUTOPILOT_AVAILABLE

Action: ON

Custom Value: 1

Note that the Custom Value can be any numerical value, it is not restricted to 1 or 0; its the result of asking the question that returns true or false, which will turn the LED light on or off.

Understanding Simple Formulas

Simple Formulas basically add, subtract, multiply or divide the Variable/Dataref chosen in the Data area of a Snippet or State Configuration. This is often necessary as the Variable/Dataref may not provide a value that is in the correct format for displaying. on a Component Display.

For example, to display the aircrafts altitude as flight levels, set the following on a Component Display:

Data: INDICATED_ALTITUDE

Action: DIVIDE_AS_INTEGER

Custom Value: 100

The above divides the INDICATED_ALTITUDE Variable by 100 ignoring any decimal places (DIVIDE_AS INTEGER instead of DIVIDE_AS_DECIMAL). Thus an altitude of 10000 would display as 100 on the Component Display.

Understanding State Converters

State converters take Variable/Dataref values and convert them into a Component State value indicating the State that the Component must be in.

For Example, assume we have a 3 Way Switch (Off = State 0,  Down = State 1, Up = State 2), but the Variable we use on the Switch provides the State indications differently (Off = 1, Down = 2, Up = 0), so the Switch will operate incorrectly. Using the Action DATA_DRIVEN_REVERSE_OFF_IS_1 would successfully convert the Variables values to the correct States (2 becomes State 1, 1 becomes State 0 becomes State 2.

Understanding Gauge Actions

Gauge actions are primarily about ensuring a gauge needle/pointer points to the correct position. For example an airspeed Gauge would use an airspeed Variable/Dataref and this would need to be converted into a Degrees value for the needle/pointer taking into account any associated "Rotation Data" configured on the Gauge.

Logical Expression Actions

ON: Component will go to its ON state (State 1) if the Variable/Dataref value matches the value entered in Custom Value, otherwise it will be at State 0 (off).

OFF: Component will go to its OFF state (State 0) if the Variable/Dataref value matches the value entered in Custom Value, otherwise it will be at State 1 (on).

ON_GREATER_THAN: Component will go to its ON state (State 1) if the Variable/Dataref value has a value greater than that entered in Custom Value, otherwise it will be at State 0 (off).

OFF_GREATER_THAN: Component will go to its OFF state (State 0) if the Variable/Dataref value has a value greater than that entered in Custom Value, otherwise it will be at State 1 (on).

ON_LESS_THAN: Component will go to its ON state (State 1) if the Variable/Dataref value has a value less than that entered in Custom Value, otherwise it will be at State 0 (off).

OFF_LESS_THAN: Component will go to its OFF state (State 1) if the Variable/Dataref value has a value less than that entered in Custom Value, otherwise it will be at State 1 (on).

DISPLAY_BLANK_EQUALS: Blanks the Component Display if the Variable/Dataref value matches the value entered in Custom Value.

DISPLAY_BLANK_GREATER_THAN: Blanks the Component Display if the Variable/Dataref value has a value greater than the value entered in Custom Value.

DISPLAY_BLANK_GREATER_THAN: Blanks the Component Display if the Variable/Dataref value has a value less than the value entered in Custom Value.

Simple Formula Actions

ADD_AS_DECIMAL: Add the Custom Value to the value of the Variable/Dataref and display it with decimal places.

ADD_AS_INTEGER: Add the Custom Value to the value of the Variable/Dataref and display it display with no decimal places.

DIVIDE_AS_DECIMAL: Divide the Variable/Dataref with the value of Custom Value and display it with decimal places.

DIVIDE_AS_INTEGER: Divide the Variable/Dataref with the value of Custom Value and display it with no decimal places.

MULTIPLY_AS_DECIMAL: Multiply the Custom Value with the value of the Variable/Dataref and display it with decimal places

MULTIPLY_AS_INTEGER: Multiply the Custom Value from the value of the Variable/Dataref and display it with no decimal places.

SUBTRACT_AS_DECIMAL: Subtract the Custom Value from the value of the Variable/Dataref and display it with decimal places.

SUBTRACT_AS_INTEGER: Subtract the Custom Value from the value of the Variable/Dataref and display it with no decimal places.

MULTIPLYTRUNCATE_AS_DECIMAL: Remove any decimal places from the value of the Variable/Dataref and then multiply this by the value entered in Custom Value and display it with decimal places.

MULTIPLYTRUNCATE_AS_INTEGER: Remove any decimal places from the value of the Variable/Dataref and then multiply this by the value entered in Custom Value and display it with no decimal places.

ROUND: It defaults to rounding the value of the Variable/Dataref to the nearest integer (whole number with no decimal places). Specifying a Custom Value between -15 and 15 rounds to the relevant digits. E.g. a Custom Value of 2 would display the Variable/Dataref value to two decimal places (239.8874 would become 239.89) and a value of -2 would display the Variable/Dataref to the nearest 100 (239 would become 200)

TRUNCATE: Will remove any fractional part of the Variable/Dataref. E.g. 89.124 would become 89.

IAS_MACH_BLANK: Will show the Variable/Dataref value as a decimal when its less than 1 or an integer when its greater than 1. To be used with autopilot IAS/MACH Component Displays. If the Variable/Dataref  value matches the value entered in Custom Value, the Component Display blanks.

IAS_MACH: Will show the Variable/Dataref value as a decimal when its less than 1 or an integer when its greater than 1. To be used with autopilot IAS/MACH Component Displays. The logic is built in, so no Custom Value needs to be provided.

DISPLAY_LEADING_ZEROES: Will show the Variable/Dataref with leading zeros. The number of leading zeros is specified in Custom Value.

SUBTRACT_AND_MULTIPLY_AS_DECIMAL: Combines SUBTRACT and MULTIPLY_AS_DECIMAL. Two Custom Values are available, one for the subtraction and the other for the multiplication.

State Convertor Actions

HAS_FLAG: Determines if the Variable/Dataref value broken down into bits matches the bits represented by the value entered in Custom Value. The Custom Value should equal the sum of the decimal value of all the bits that must be on to set the Components state to 1 (ON). E.g. for bits 4 and 7, the "Light Value" would be 72 (8 + 64).

HAS_FLAG_WITH_ZERO_IS_ONE: Operates in the same way as HAS_FLAG, except when the Variable/Dataref is zero, it returns 1.

DATA_DRIVEN: The State of the Component is determined by the value of the Variable/Dataref assigned to it.

DATA_DRIVEN_OFF_IS_1: The State of the Component is determined by the value of the Variable/Dataref assigned to it, however the value 0 is State 2, value 1 is State 0, value 2 is State 1 and then value 3 onwards, is consistent e.g. value 3 is State 3 etc.

DATA_DRIVEN_REVERSE: Similar to DATA_DRIVEN except it operates in the reverse direction e.g. a value of 0 becomes State 1, and 1 becomes State 0.

DATA_DRIVEN_REVERSE_OFF_IS_1: Operates in a similar way as DATA_DRIVEN_OFF_IS_1, except values of 3 onwards are reversed. E.g. on a 5 State Component, a value of 3 is State 5, a value of 4 is State 4 and a value of 5 is State 3.

DATA_DRIVEN_BITSET: The State of the Component is determined by which bit of the Variable/Dataref value assigned to it is set to 1.

DATA_DRIVEN_BITSET_EXCEPT_OFF_IS_1: The State of the Component is determined by which bit of the Variable/Dataref value assigned to it is set to 1, however the value 1 is State 0, value 2 is State 1 etc

DATA_DRIVEN_EXCEPT_OFF_IS_1: The State of the Component is determined by the value of the Variable/Dataref assigned to it, however the value 0 is State 1, value 1 is State 0, and then value 2 onwards, is consistent e.g. value 2 is State 2 etc.

DATA_DRIVEN_REVERSE_EXCEPT_OFF_IS_1: Operates in a similar way as DATA_DRIVEN_EXCEPT_OFF_IS_1, however values of 2 onwards are reversed. E.g. on a 5 State Component, a value of 2 is State 5, a value of 3 is State 4, a value of 4 is State 3 and a value of 5 is State 2.

MAX_VALUE: This is used for Rotary Selectors only. In Custom Value place the maximum value the Variable/Dataref can be, so the correct position of the Rotary Selector can be set.

Gauge Actions

RADIANS_TO_DEGREES: Converts a Variable/Dataref value in radians to degrees. This is a straight conversion and does not use any associated "Rotation Data".

TO_DEGREES_WHERE_CUSTOM_VALUE_IS_MAX_VALUE: When a gauge does not have an "End Value" set, i.e. its a generic style gauge, the Custom Value is used to define the "End Value" and the Variable/Dataref  value is converted to a suitable Degrees value for the gauge. If a Start Value has been set on the Gauge, this is taken into account.

TO_DEGREES: Converts a Variable/Dataref to a suitable Degrees value for the gauge using all the associated "Rotation Data" configured on the Gauge.

MULTIPLY_AS_DECIMAL_TO_DEGREES: Multiplies the Variable/Dataref by the Custom Value and then converts the result into a suitable Degrees value for the gauge using all the associated "Rotation Data" configured on the Gauge.

DIVIDE_AS_DECIMAL_TO_DEGREES: Divides the Variable/Dataref by the Custom Value and then converts the result into a suitable Degrees value for the gauge using all the associated "Rotation Data" configured on the Gauge.

USE_PREDEFINED_INTERVALS: Use a Variable/Dataref value as an index to select a value from the predefined intervals configured on the gauge.

REVERSE_SIGN: Negative Variable/Dataref values become positive and vice versa.

MULTIPLY_AS_DECIMAL_REVERSE_SIGN: Combines MULTIPLY_AS_DECIMAL and REVERSE_SIGN.

ADD_TO_ZERO: If a Variable/Dataref value is 0, the value in Custom Value is added to it.