Manual Data Input (MDI)

MDI Tutorial

MDI Interface

The MDI Interface uses a QLineEdit named mdi_command_le to enter commands.

For touch screens there are two options a NC Popup is a touch screen that has G and M words and a number keypad or a Keyboard Popup has a full keyboard.

To enable a popup add a Dynamic string type Property to the mdi_command_le QLineEdit and name it input and set the value to either nccode or keyboard.

Dynamic Property

_images/dynamic-property-01.png

Setting the value

_images/dynamic-property-02.png

NC code popup window

_images/nccode-popup.png

Keyboard popup window

_images/keyboard-popup.png

MDI History

MDI history uses a QListWidget named mdi_history_lw to display the MDI history. You can click on a line in the history display to copy the command to the MDI Interface, ready for running.

_images/mdi-history.png

The MDI history is kept in a file named mdi_history.txt in the configuration directory.

MDI Controls

The following QPushButtons can be used to execute, copy, and clear MDI command history

MDI Push Buttons

Function

Widget

Object Name

Run MDI Command

QPushButton

run_mdi_pb

Copy the MDI History to the Clipboard

QPushButton

copy_mdi_history_pb

Save the MDI History to a file

QPushButton

save_mdi_history_pb

Clear the MDI History

QPushButton

clear_mdi_history_pb

MDI Button

MDI buttons execute a MDI command when the button is pressed. These are created by adding two dynamic properties called function and command to a QPushButton.

Note

If the command property is not found, the button will not be enabled!

Select the button then create a dynamic property by pressing the green plus sign in the Property Editor

_images/mdi-01.png

Then select string:

_images/mdi-02.png

Name the property function and click OK

_images/mdi-03.png

Set the value of the property to mdi

_images/mdi-04.png

Add a property called command

_images/mdi-05.png

Set the value of the property to your valid MDI command

_images/mdi-06.png