Gauge Parameters
The parameters on the right side of the Gauge Display Layout Editor can be broken down into five groups:
| ￭ | Basic Parameters |
| ￭ | Gauge Ticks (Numbering) |
| ￭ | Peaks (Ghost Pointers) |
| ￭ | Ranges (Color Bars) |
| ￭ | Location and Size |
Basic Parameters
|
Parameter |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Label |
The gauge name that will be displayed on screen. It appears at the bottom of round gauges and just above bar gauges. |
|
Type |
Select the type of gauge: ellipse or vertical bar. |
|
Parameter |
Click this link to select the signal whose output the gauge will display. |
|
Unit |
Once the Parameter is selected, use this dropdown to select the units for this parameter. For example, a speedometer can display mph or km/h. On round gauges, the selected unit type will be displayed in the top half of the gauge. |
|
Decimals |
This specifies the number of decimal places used when displaying the digital readout of the gauge reading. On round gauges, this is the large number in the center of the gauge. On bar gauges, the number appears below the gauge. |
|
Filter |
The length of time entered here (if any) specifies how often VCM Scanner should update this gauge. |
Gauge "Ticks" (Numbering)
To set up the numbering on the face of the gauge, configure the following parameters:
|
Parameter |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Limits - Max |
The highest value that the gauge will be able to display. For example, the Speedometer above has a Max of 160. |
|
Limits - Min |
The lowest value that the gauge will be able to display. For example, all three gauges above have a Min of 0. |
|
Major Ticks - Count |
How many numbers appear on the outside of the gauge? For example, the RPM gauge above has 8 numbers (0 to 7). |
|
Major Ticks - Factor |
The raw value will be divided by this number to produce the numbers on the gauge face. For example, the RPM gauge above has a Factor of 1000 so that it displays 0, 1, 2... rather than 0, 1000, 2000... |
For round gauges, the following additional parameters can be configured:
|
Parameter |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Minor Ticks - Count |
The number of ticks between each number on the gauge. |
|
Ellipse Properties - Arc Start |
The position (in degrees) of the lowest value on the gauge. Both round gauges start at 135 degrees. (0 degrees is at 3 o'clock). |
|
Ellipse Properties - Arc Sweep |
How far around the edge of the gauge (in degrees) does the numbering go? Both round gauges above use a value of 270 degrees (the numbers go 3/4 of the way around the gauge, clockwise from the Arc Start). |
Peaks (Ghost Pointers)
Gauges can display a ghost pointer to represent the highest and/or lowest value that the gauge has reached.
|
Parameter |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Draw Max |
If this box is checked, the gauge will display a ghost pointer at the highest value it has recorded (since the last reset). |
|
Draw Min |
If this box is checked, the gauge will display a ghost pointer at the lowest value it has recorded (since the last reset). |
NOTE: The ghost pointers can be reset by right clicking on the gauge display and then selecting Reset Peaks.
Ranges (Color Bars)
Some gauges (such as the RPM gauge in the default layout) have color bars along the outer edge. To configure a color bar, fill out the Start, End and Level values in a single row of the Ranges section. Each color bar will use one row in this section.
|
Parameter |
Description |
|||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Start |
The lowest value in the range covered by this color bar. |
|||||||||
|
End |
The highest value in the range covered by this color bar. |
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|
Level |
Select a number here to specify the color of the bar. By default, the colors are:
|
NOTE: The available colors can be adjusted globally (For all gauges) rather than for an individual gauge. See the Scales tab of the Gauge Display Properties Editor.
Location and Size
|
Parameter |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Left |
The distance of the left edge of the gauge from the left edge of the gauge panel. This is entered as a percentage of the total width of the gauge panel. |
|
Top |
The distance of the top edge of the gauge from the top edge of the gauge panel. This is entered as a percentage of the total height of the gauge panel. |
|
Width |
The width of the gauge, entered as a percentage of the total width of the gauge panel. |
|
Height |
The height of a gauge. |
Overlapping Gauges
Gauge configuration is flexible enough to replicate fairly complex cluster layouts in real vehicles. In addition to just moving the gauges around and resizing them, you can position gauges so that they overlap each other. When overlapping gauges, you may also want to adjust gauge stacking order and the Ellipse Properties of each gauge.
Gauge Stacking Order
Gauges that appear lower in the list on the left side of the Gauge Display Layout Editor will be displayed in front of the gauges that appear higher in the list. To change a gauge’s position in the list.
| 1. | Select the gauge in the list. |
| 2. | Click  and/or  to move the gauge up and down the list. |
Ellipse Properties
On round gauges, the ellipse properties fields (described under Gauge "Ticks" above) can be used to make sure that the gauge numbers appear only on the portion of the gauge face that is not covered by other gauges.
