Pipe, Tooltip and Image

Three types doing three separate jobs: Pipe gives the impression of flow along a line, Tooltip shows information on hover, and Image swaps the picture according to the value.

Pipe

Shows flow as dashes travelling along a line or pipe. Whether there is flow, which way it goes and how fast are all driven by the value.

Field	Description
Variable	The variable to read
Default Value	The value used when it cannot be read
Value Bit	Self takes the whole value; choosing a bit index reads only that bit out of the word
Inverse	Reverses the direction of flow
Array	The length of the dash pattern
Width	Line thickness
Speed	How fast the flow moves
Color	The colour of the flow

The value is read as true or false: there is flow, or there is not. Binding a pump’s running state to a pipe is the most common use.

Driving the flow and its colour from one expression

Pipe is one of the two types that can take their visual settings at run time (the other is Bar). In Expressions mode, when the expression returns an object rather than a plain true/false, the fields on that object are used in place of the form’s settings — so a pipe that runs blue and fast while the pump is on and sits grey and still when it is off takes one expression. Detail: Element Editor.

Inverse lets you reverse the direction without changing the drawing. Where a line is used both ways — filling and emptying — driving the direction from the value beats drawing two pipes.

Tooltip

Shows an information balloon when the pointer rests on the object. It is how you give detail without crowding the screen: a measurement that will not fit beside the symbol, an equipment tag, a last-maintenance date.

Field	Description
Variable	The variable to read
Default Value	What to show when it cannot be read
Value Bit	The whole value, or a single bit of it
Title	The balloon’s title
Text	The balloon’s content
Size	The balloon’s size
Delay	How long the pointer must rest before it appears
Color	The balloon’s colour

Delay is small but worth setting: without it, balloons open and close constantly as the operator moves across the screen.

Image

Changes the picture shown according to the value. It takes the name of a file uploaded to the platform and displays that file.

It can be used to switch between several states of a symbol — though Symbols or GetSymbol usually suit that better. Image earns its place for artwork you have uploaded: a photograph, a logo, a scanned schematic.

It is offered on rect alone.

What each binds to

Type	Object
Pipe	Any object
Tooltip	Any object
Image	rect only

Related

• Element Editor — the fields every binding form shares
• Symbols — showing a symbol per state
• Color — saying it with colour instead