FEW QUESTIONS DXL

[metalchips2]

1) IS THERE A EASY WAY TO INPUT X & Y?
2) EXAMPLE: HOW TO MOVE LAYER CONTAINER ( MAP ) WITHOUT DRAGGING?
3) EXAMPLE: IS LAYER 1 CONTAINER MAP , (ALL) TEXT SUPPOSE TO HAVE PID OR RPM OR MAP AND USE OBDII VALUE CHECKED OR UNCHECKED?
4) LAYER 1 AND 2----CONTAINER...WHAT IS THE OFFSET FOR?
5) TICK MARKS--WHAT IS THE SKIP TICK LIST?
6) WHAT SIZE PICTURE CAN BE INPUT?
7) IN CLASSIC DASH: WHAT THIS MEANS,,%s = % ( UNITS ).  VALUE,,%0f = %???
DASHXL EDITOR:%.% = %???
9) DO YOU HAVE AN AREA ON THIS SITE TO GET SOME INFO ON FORMAT STRING CODES???
YES THIS PROGRAM SEEMS TO NEED AN EASIER WAY TO INPUT THE X & Y NUMBERS TO MAKE A DASH UNLESS I HAVE NOT FOUND IT!!!  THANKS FOR ANY INFO

[Weston@PPE]

1 - If you click on an object, other than a container or layer, you can change the X and Y by editing the "Center Point" property. The format is "X; Y".

2 - To move a container you can use the X and Y offsets. (See answer 4 for more info)

3 - Having the "Use OBD-II Value" boxed checked means that every time you draw this text it will get the value of the specified PID. Only check this if you will be using it with that text.

4 - The X and Y offsets can be used to add/subtract a certain number from all X and/or Y points inside that container. So if you had a X offset of 5 the container would move 5 to the right. If you changed to 10 it would move 5 more. If you right click on a container there is an option called "Normalize Children". This will take the current offsets and permanently apply them to the object inside this container (and then set the offsets to 0).

5 - The skip tick list is used for not showing certain ticks. 0 is the first tick, up through whatever number of ticks you have. You can remove more than 1 by doing something like this "0, 4, 9". This is so if you want to have a larger set of tick marks and a smaller set on the same gauge, you wouldn't have overlapping ticks.

6 - Whatever size you want. But if you use a big one, your dashboard will have a very large file size.

7 - These are the format string codes. (See answer 9 for more info)

8 - More sting codes. (Answer 9)

9 - The format string codes are where the OBD-II value (from the PID entered below the Format String) is placed into the text string.
    %s is to place a string. (Change the Value Type drop down for this)
    %f is to place an number. You can also put a .X (X being a number) before the f to specify how many digits you want after the decimal point. (%.0f would be 0 digits after, also not showing the decimal point, %.2f would be 2 digits after)

Example:
If you wanted to display rpm, you wouldn't want to have any extra 0's at the end. Your object properties might look like this:
    Format String: "%.0f rpm"
    Use OBD-II Value: Checked
    PID: "SAE.RPM"
    Value Type: "Value (Number)"

If you wanted Mass Air Flow, you would want some precision, so it might look like this:
    Format String: "%.2f lb/min"
    Use OBD-II Value: Checked
    PID: "SAE.MAF"
    Value Type: "Value (Number)"
    Unit System: "English"