Notes
Plots can be annotated using notes.
Notes are text boxes placed in HyperGraph 2D windows for labeling points, describing trends, and relating additional curve information.
In addition to the Note list, the Notes panel contains three tabs: Text, Attributes, and Attach To.
Figure 1.
Note List
The Note list displays the names of all the notes in the active window. Notes can be renamed, added, cut, copied, and pasted using the note list controls at the bottom of the list.
To edit a note, it must be either selected from the list or picked from the window.
Notes can be hidden or displayed. To hide a note, select the note from the note list or pick the note from the window and deactivate the check box next to the Note: field. To display a note, select the note and activate the check box.
The Cut, Copy, Paste, and Add buttons are used to maintain the note list. Notes can be copied and pasted into other windows. Notes can also be added and cut from the list.
Notes can be positioned anywhere in the window by clicking and dragging the note box to a new location. While moving, the note is represented by an empty box. Release the mouse button to place the note at its new position.
For more information on positioning notes, see Note Positioning.
Text
Once a note has been added to the note list, text and Templex expressions can be entered and formatted from the Text tab.
- Expansion button
- Click the expansion button,
, to enlarge the note text box. - Font button
- Click the font button,
, to display the Font Selector dialog. The
Font Selector dialog allows you to select font types, font styles, and
font sizes for the note text. - Alignment
- Text can be left aligned, right aligned, or centered in a note box by selecting the corresponding radio buttons to the right of the text box. Text alignment is updated automatically.
- Apply
- Click Apply to process any Templex statements contained in the note and display the text in the note box or to update existing text.
- Text Edit Context Sensitive Menu
- Right-click to display a text editing menu when the cursor is inside the
text box. Once the menu is activated, it remains open until you perform
a procedure. You can perform the following text editing procedures:
- Undo
- Discards the last change made to the contents of the text box.
- Cut
- Removes the highlighted text and places a copy of the text on the clipboard.
- Copy
- Place a copy of the highlighted text on the clipboard.
- Paste
- Inserts text from the clipboard.
- Delete
- Deletes the highlighted text.
- Select All
- Highlights all items in the text box.
- Right-to-left reading order
- Aligns the text to the right of the text box.
Templex Statements in Notes
Notes can contain Templex statements as well as math and string functions and operators. In fact, notes can be complete Templex templates. Templex enables you to include text from an external file, call external functions, assign variables, and perform math operations within a note.
Below the note text box are six buttons that represent Templex variables that can be included in a note. For example, if a note contains the variables {X}, {Y}, and {Slope}, the X and Y values, as well as the slope of the curve at the attachment point, are displayed in the note. As the note’s attachment point changes, the Templex variables update automatically.
- {X}
- Displays the X value of the attachment point.
- {Y}
- Displays the Y value of the attachment point.
- {T} or {Time}
- Displays the time value of the attachment point.
- {Label}
- Displays the name of the curve containing the attachment point.
- {Slope}
- Displays the slope (first derivative) of the curve at the attachment point.
- {Curv}
- Displays the curvature (second derivative) of the curve at the attachment point.
Other Templex variables that can be included in a note are:
- {x.note}
- {y.note}
- {t.note}
- These can be applied if you are reading a curve from an external file, such as an ABF file or an external reader. Within the external file, there can be a particular request to which a note is assigned, or a note may be included to improve the understanding of the curve numbers, for example. The note is preserved in and accessed from the x, y, or t data vector when reading the curve from the external file.
- {x.filename}
- {y.filename}
- {t.filename}
- Displays the filename from which the data vector was derived. If the data vector is a math vector, no filename is displayed in the note.
- {index}
- Displays the index of the curve at the attachment point.
Vector data can be referenced in a note calculation using either of the following statements:
- c#.vector
- Where:
- c@.vector
- Where:
Attributes
The Attributes tab on the Notes panel allows you to set the note border and text attributes.
Figure 2.
- Apply To
- You can choose to apply the attributes you select to the Selected Note, the Current Window, the Current Page, or All Pages.
- Border Styles
- Color Palette
- Select a note box border style from the four listed, or click None to remove the border from the note box.
- Auto position
- Activate Auto position to automatically position notes to avoid obscuring curves. The setting is saved to the session file and report template.
- Font Icon
- Click the font button, , to display the Font Selector dialog. The
Font Selector dialog allows you to select font types, font styles, and
font sizes for the note text.
- Use Preferences
- Click to use the preferences set in the preferences.mvw file.
Attach To
The Attach To tab allows you to specify how a note is displayed in the window.
Notes can be anchored one of four ways, which are described below. Once attached, notes can be positioned anywhere in the window. When a curve is either cut or copied, notes attached to the curve are also cut or copied. Notes can also be attached to curves using the Templex statements, attach_note_at and attach_note_to.
Figure 3.
- Window
- The note remains stationary when the plot is repositioned in the window.
- View
- The note moves with the plot when the plot is repositioned in the window.
- Curve
- A leader connects the note to a specific point on the curve and the note moves with the plot when the plot is repositioned in the window. This is not available for bar charts.
- Coordinates
- A leader connects the note to a specific point on the plot. This is not available for bar charts.