Tab Placeholder object

This tab shows you the selected properties of all objects belonging to a placeholder object. In addition to the objects (functions, part placements, graphical elements, etc.) selected on a page or in the layout space, the placeholder object also includes the page or the layout space itself as well as the project. Variables can be assigned to the properties of these objects. It is also possible to store value sets in a placeholder object.

Overview of the main dialog elements:

Name:

Here you specify the name of the placeholder object. If you are editing a placeholder (double-click on the graphical symbol for the placeholder object) the name is displayed here.

Description:

In contrast to the name that is identifying and is therefore not multilingual, this field can be used for additional information that can also be displayed in a foreign language. By default, both the name of the placeholder as well as, in round brackets, the description are displayed in the Placeholder objects - <Project name> dialog.

Enlarge section:

The preview displays the page / layout space on which the placeholder object has been inserted. If this check box is activated, the section with the selected placeholder object and the associated objects is displayed larger.

The "anchor" symbol of a placeholder object on a page is highlighted in red in the preview. The associated objects whose property, variable or value you have just marked in one of the two tabs are identified by a black color in the preview.

Assignment tab

Table:

This table lists all the objects of the placeholder object as well as the properties selected for the objects with the current values. Initially only the objects and no properties are displayed here for a new placeholder object. Through (New) you can select the desired properties for a marked object and enter them in the table.

When you navigate within this table, the graphical preview at the upper right is updated. This provides you with a constant overview of which object the property that you have currently selected belongs to.

The table contains the following columns:

Property: The properties of the placeholder object are displayed as a tree view here. When the property dialog is opened, the tree in the table is always opened down to the selected properties.
Current value: The current value of the respective property is displayed here.
Variable: Here you can enter variables (or fixed values) for the properties of a placeholder object. If variables already exist in the Values tab then you can select one of these variables via the Select variable popup menu item.

Tips:

At the graphical elements in placeholder objects it is also possible to access some display properties that are located in the property dialog of the graphical elements below the "Format" hierarchy level. These are the properties Line thickness, Color, Invisible and Line type. Correspondingly configured value sets thus allow, for example, a rectangle to be set to invisible and the color of a line to be switched.
In placeholder objects it is possible to exchange symbols via the selection of value sets. To this purpose the property Symbol (ID 20575) is available to you in the Assignment tab for the property selection of functions. If a variable is entered for this property, you can - with a click - open the symbol selection in order to select a different symbol for a value set in the Values tab.
You can insert copied values from other table cells (for example the names of properties) into the Variable column. The values inserted this way are automatically supplemented with angle brackets (<>) and a variable with this name is generated. This behavior applies for all field types with the exception of multilingual fields. No angle brackets are added in multilingual fields.

Popup menu:

The popup menu provides - depending on the field type (e.g. date, integer, multilingual) - the following menu items that are, depending on the situation, available for influencing the table or editing the values in the fields. You can find an overview of these popup menu items in the section Popup menu items.

In addition, the following dialog-specific popup menu items are available:

Menu item	Meaning
Select variable	Only in the Variable column: Opens the Select variable dialog where you can select one of the available variables, if there are any.
Adopt variables	Searches the Assignment tab in the Current value column for valid variable names, e.g., <Variable>, and copies them to the Variable column.
Delete object	Only available when at least one row is selected: Deletes the entire selected object including all of its assigned properties, values, and variables from the placeholder object as soon as you confirm with [Yes].

Hide objects without selected properties:

This check box allows you to reduce the number of displayed objects. If this check box is activated, only those objects for which a property is selected are still displayed in the table.

This setting is deactivated by default when the property dialog for the placeholder objects is opened. An activation of the check box is not stored.

Tab Values

Table:

All the variables and the associated value sets of a placeholder object are displayed in this table.

The table contains the following columns:

Variable: Here the existing variables are displayed.
<Value set>: This column is only available if you have created a value set in this tab. The value sets created by this means have a consecutive number, which can be changed subsequently, as the value set name by default.
Here you can enter the desired values for a value set. If a variable is already assigned to a property, the values in a cell can then be selected by means of a selection dialog. This the case, for example, at properties for the part numbers, for the function definition, for colors and for structure identifiers.
Modifiable: Here you specify for a variable whether the values can still be changed when selecting the value set. If this check box is activated for a variable, you can adjust the value of those variables in the Select value set dialog.

Depending on which cell is marked, you can use the buttons (New) and (Delete) to add or delete variables or value sets. You can influence the sequence of the value sets by using the arrow buttons ( / ).

Popup menu:

In addition, the following dialog-specific popup menu items are available:

Menu item	Meaning
New variable	Opens the Name new variable dialog where you can generate a new variable and EPLAN automatically checks whether the specified name is valid. The new variable is inserted as a new cell below the Variable column heading.
Delete unused variables	After a confirmation prompt, deletes all variables that were not used in the assignment action.
New value set	Creates a new column for the value set to be generated, which must then be entered.
Delete value set	Only available when a value set is selected: Deletes the currently marked value set after a confirmation prompt.
Read in current values	Only available when a value set is marked: Imports the current values (from the Assignment tab) into the selected value set.
Assign value set	Only available when a value set is marked: Assigns the current value set. The schematic objects whose properties have been assigned a variable in the Assignment tab contain the appropriate values.