Hide Dynamic Properties in 2D

The Hide dynamic is a simple action, but one that is incredibly useful. When an object is hidden it disappears from view. The object is still active and subject to control programmatically. You might use the Hide dynamic for any one of the following purposes:

To change the visual properties of a display
To remove features depending upon the user's security level.
To change a shape's color, size, location, or function
To perform feats of magic that will amaze your audience making things appear and disappear

Click the Hide button in the Color section of the 2D Dynamics ribbon, to create a dynamic that conditionally hides and shows an object during runtime. The properties of the 2D Hide dynamic are shown in the table below. (For the 3D version of this dynamic, refer to Hide Dynamic’s Properties in 3D.) Default values for the Hide dynamic are set in the Preferences tab. Refer to New Hide Default Settings for more information.

Unique Properties of the Hide Dynamic

Property	Settings	Description
Data
DataSource	An input, value, expression, or OPC data source	Data connections can be typed directly into the DataSource. Click the Ellipsis button and in Data Browser you can select tags in the system. You can also create Expressions in the Data Browser.
DragDropDataSource	True or False	True indicates that the data source can, during runtime, be dragged by a user and dropped into another component so that the hide dynamic affects the component it is dropped into.
LowLimit	Value	Low limit is used as a boundary condition in animation.
HighLimit	Value	High limit is used as a boundary condition in animation.
HideWhen	Range Settings	Sets discrete ranges when animation occurs.
Dynamic Behavior
AnimationMode	Analog or Discrete	Analog – The fading in and out of the object is determined by values coming from the data source. Discrete – The start and stop of the object's fading in and out (or showing/not showing) is determined by values coming from the data source.
StartPercent	0 to 100
EndPercent	0 to 100
AbsoluteOpacity	True or False	Analog AnimationMode only
ExplicitHide	True or False	Discrete AnimationMode only
ExplicitShow	True or False	Discrete AnimationMode only
Dynamic Behavior - Discrete (Discrete AnimationMode only)
StartDelay	Number	The number of milliseconds that will pass before animation begins in runtime; you can use a data source for this number.
Duration	Number	The number of milliseconds over which the animation will transpire; you can use a data source for this number.
SkipInitialDuration	True or False
AccelerationRatio	0 to 100
DecelerationRatio	0 to 100
AnimateWhenTrue	True or False
ReverseAnimateWhenFalse	True or False
AutoReverse	True or False
RepeatCount	Number
FillBehavior	Holdend or Stop
FreezeWhenNotAnimating	True or False
Flash (Discrete AnimationMode only)
FlashRate	Number	The number of milliseconds that will pass between flash state changes; you can use a data source for this number.
HideWhenNotFlashing	True or False
Dynamic Behavior - Detents (Analog AnimationMode only)
DetentType	None, Number of Detents, Delta Value	Detents are the number of steps of animation of an object can have.
DetentValue	Number	The number of increments/decrements used in the animation. Use a higher number for smoother animation.
DetentOrigin	Value	The starting analog value from which subsequent steps are calculated.
ToolTip
ShowToolTip	True or False
ShowDescription	True, False, or Default
ShowDataSourceName	True, False, or Default
ShowDataSourceValue	True, False, or Default
ShowErrorInformation	True, False, or Default

For more information, refer to Object Properties.

To illustrate how hide dynamics work the dynamic will be applied to the traffic light that was created above. When the lights are off the hide dynamic will remove them from view. To apply the hide dynamic to the traffic light:

Select all three circles in the traffic light and click the Hide dynamic to apply that action to all three circles.
Set the DataSource of the Hide dynamic to localsim:ramp:::0:1000, the ActiveWhen property to (data<=low) OR (data>=high), and the AnimationMode to Discrete.
Select the top circle and set the LowLimt and the HighLimit for the Hide dynamic to 0 and 400, respectively.
Select the middle circle and set the LowLimt and the HighLimit for the Hide dynamic to 401 and 599, respectively.
Select the bottom circle and set the LowLimt and the HighLimit for the Hide dynamic to 600 and 1000, respectively.
Go into runtime and observe the traffic light; it should look similar to the one shown below.

The Traffic Light with Inactive Lights Hidden

The red and green lights are inactive and hidden.