6.11.3   Control Buttons

Below the parameter display, you find five buttons that comprise the following functions:

OK  

Click OK to execute the operator or procedure call with the specified parameters. The execution mode depends on the position of the PC: If the PC is placed above the insertion position, the system executes the program from the PC until the insertion position first. Then, the operator or procedure call that has been edited in the operator window is executed. The reason for this is that the parameter values that are used as input values for the currently edited operator or procedure call have to be calculated. If the PC is placed at or after the insertion position, only the currently edited operator or procedure call is executed.

The operator or procedure call is entered into the program window before it is executed. After the execution, the PC is positioned on the next executable program line after the edited operator or procedure call.

The computed output parameter values are displayed in the variable window. Iconic variables are shown in the current graphics window if you did not disable this option (compare section section “Runtime Settings ▹ Runtime Settings”). Afterwards, the operator window is cleared. If you did not specify all parameters or if you used wrong values, an error dialog is raised and the execution is canceled. The operator window then remains open to allow appropriate changes.

Enter / Replace  

Click Enter and the currently edited operator or procedure call is transferred into the program window without being executed. When editing existing program lines (through double-clicking in the program window, see section “Editing Programs”), the button label changes to Replace. When clicked, the original program line is replaced.

Apply  

Click Apply, the operator is executed with the specified parameters, but not entered into or changed in the program. This enables you to determine the optimum parameters rapidly since the operator dialog remains open, and hence you can change parameters quickly. Note that this functionality is not available for procedure calls.

Unlike the button OK, only the single line you edit or enter is executed, no matter where the PC is located. Thus, you have to ensure that all the input variables contain meaningful values. By clicking Apply, the corresponding output variables are changed or created, if necessary, to allow you to inspect their values.

Cancel  

Click Cancel to clear the contents of the operator window. Thus, there are neither changes in the program nor in any variables.

Help  

Click Help to invoke the online help for the selected operator or procedure. For this the system activates the online help window (see Help Window).