Notes on Auto Binding

Autobinding happens in Helios Profile Editor when adding a component device has been coded in a specific way so that it uses CompositeVisual. CompositeVisual will attempt to create a binding between an added interface and child controls in a component device so that these do not need to be laboriously connected manually - this can be quite tedious.

The “device” & “name” from then interface AddFunction need to match exactly with the InterfaceDeviceName & InterfaceElementName used on the CompositeVisual object that is defined in your device. Within the code for the device component, the “name” used on the Addcontrol needs to be unique, and the “Name” for the control should have the base class name for the device component prepended (with a trailing underscore).

[HeliosControl("Helios.AV8B.SMC", "Stores Management Panel", "AV-8B", typeof(AV8BDeviceRenderer))]

The HeliosControlAttribute “name” is not used in the autobinding.

Make sure that you do not add actions or triggers in the device component code. These are added by CompositeVisual. Likewise do not do a child add in the device component code.

Example:

in AV8BInterface.cs

	AddFunction(new PushButton(this, SMC, "3407", "407", "Stores Management", "Station 1 Button"));
	                                                             |                     | 
								  Device                 Name

in SMC.cs (the code for the component device)

    public SMC_AV8B()
        : base("SMC", new Size(1231, 470)
                 |
                 +--- This gets pre-pended to the "Name" when the control is created
	     
	AddButton("Station 1", 383, 392, new Size(50, 50), "Station 1 Button");
	               |                                             |
	            [name]                                [InterfaceElementName]
		    
private void AddButton(string name, double x, double y, Size size, bool horizontal, bool altImage, string interfaceElementName)
    {
        Point pos = new Point(x, y);
        PushButton button = AddButton(
                name: "Station 1",     
                posn: pos,
                size: size,
                image: "{Helios}/Images/Buttons/tactile-dark-round.png",
                pushedImage: "{Helios}/Images/Buttons/tactile-dark-round-in.png",
                buttonText: "",
                interfaceDeviceName: "Stores Management",   <---- this has to match the "device" from the interface 
                interfaceElementName: "Station 1 Button",   <---- this has to match the "name" from the interface
                fromCenter: false
                );
        button.Name = "SMC_" + "Station 1";   <---- This is the base() name joined to the "name" with an underscore "_" 
    }

Problem Solving:

Setting a stop in CompositeVisual.cs around line 231

```ConfigManager.LogManager.LogError("Cannot find child " + defaultBinding.ChildName);```

should give a view of what is not binding.

Correct binding values can be determined by setting a breackpoint in HeliosBinding.cs around line 49 and then doing a manual bind with Profile Editor.