Texts

January 2021

The Text object has the most significant range of features and application in your Circuit schematic, from simple text display through to automation with the use of special properties, all these will be described here.

New for v74, all texts on the currently active sheet can be brought to the front with Main Menu > Layout > Order > All Texts to Front (CTRL + SHFT + T).

Add Text

Open a Sheet in Edit Mode and select the Text toolbar button...

Click down anywhere on the Sheet to place the Text object, the properties dialogue will open...

At this point if you just press [Apply] then the text property will be set to "?" by default and the dialogue will close.

To add text single click on the text row...

The Text Input dialogue will pop up...

Enter some text, for example "Start Control Relay"...

The press [Apply], then once more to complete...

The text will be displayed where you placed it.

Now, Press F3 to show Insertion Points...

Press the Pointer toolbar button to deselect the Add Text tool!

Add Line Breaks

Double-click on the text insertion point to open up the Text Properties once again, then single click the text property once more...

To add a line break use the "|" pipe symbol. This is achieved by pressing the SHIFT + | keys...

Add a line break to replace the space between each word, which should then look like...

Press [Apply] as required to finish. The text on the Sheet should now look like...

Font Size & Font Family

To adjust the text size and font family use these two options...

Text size is limited to between 6 points and 72 points. 

Fonts are generally limited to the standard built-in Windows fonts, for example...

Alternate Fonts

The use of "standard" fonts is to ensure that if a project is moved to another PC the texts will display as intended, of course you may like to use other fonts. Here's how...

(Note! To check the font family and it's support of "Regular" just use Windows Notepad. Open Notepad and select Format > Fonts...)

The above example shows that Tempus Sans ITC supports Regular, so then copy the Font: family text selected exactly as shown, and enter it into the fontFamily field, for example  fontFamily="Tempus Sans ITC". Save textfile.xml and re-open the project to see the results.

Offset X and Y

To adjust the position of the text displayed relative to the Insertion Point add offsets in the offsetX and offsetY properties.

This feature becomes useful when you have made a Symbol and the text position encroaches another element in the symbol should the Text string be too long, for example...

In this example we need to subtract an amount of pixels from the X (where X is left to right, and Y is top to bottom on the Sheet)...

The result being...

Angle

To adjust the angle of the text, use the angle property.

Note: Only the FIRST and only text in a multi-line text will be displayed when the angle is above Zero!

Some examples...

Info Text

Info Text is a line (or lines) of text that are optionally displayed to add additional detail, and are used especially when a Text object becomes smart with for example a gene of main.

In it's simplest form use info to add some additional detail, for example...

Would become...

To show/hide Info texts across a whole Sheet check or uncheck Display > Information Texts...

Within an Info text property any text entered after an asterisk (*) will be saved but never displayed. For example...

The text "A1 Coil" will never be displayed, but it can be evaluated by automation features in the Circuit App.

This feature will be demonstrated later when using Contacts.

$device Texts

The first advanced use of the Text object is when it becomes part of a user created Symbol.

For example, if we have created an emergency stop push-button symbol as shown...

Then at lest one Text object must exist with a gene of $device, and in this case it's the ??? text entity shown above.

To create a symbol, prepare the lines, circles, other Nodes as required, then add a single Text object, single click the gene row, and scroll the list to select $device...

Press [Apply]...

Finally, as this will become a re-useable symbol in a library, then enter a default Text of say ???.

To create a Symbol on the Sheet only, select all the entities of your symbol including the Text of $device and press ALT + M (make group).

So long as ONLY one Text object with a gene of $device exists within a symbol, then double-clicking that symbol will find that Text object and display it's properties dialogue.

Now that this Text has an gene of $device, data may only be attached if we also assign an element of main...

To start, double-click the Text entity or symbol that contains one with a gene of $device, then select the element row...

From the options that pop up choose main...

Press [Apply] to complete.

This particular Text object, now it's a $device type and also has an element of main can now have component data attached to it.

As an aside, to test this, single click the Text object (or symbol that contains it) and press CTRL + D...

Texts with gene's

The above example introduced using a Text gene of $device.

The gene property value enables a number of differing features to co-habit one simple variable.

Some gene's are suited to the use of Global Updates, the feature where every Text object with a particular gene of for example $revision may be updated across every Sheet in one go.

Circuit stores all graphical designs in single Sheet.XML files, and they are loaded one at a time into the workspace, however all Text values are stored in ONE single file, namely textfile.xml, located in the project folder.

In this way, it's possible to make global changes to Text values using automation, such as wire numbering, cross-referencing and common text values.

For example, suppose you have 40 Sheets in a schematic, and at the bottom corner of those you have a Text object with a gene of $revision...

Using the Global Update feature (choose Edit > Globals)...

Select the $property of $revison, apply a new value the press [Apply] to complete...

All Text objects of that gene are now updated, and as you load each Sheet you will see that change reflected.

This chapter continues on Texts Part 2.