Text Element

Modified on 2018/07/16 01:46 by Administrator — Categorized as: Base Elements, Elements, Visual Stimuli

Summary

Element Icon Text
Info
Category: Visual Stimuli AddIn: Base Layer
Creator: OkazoLab Scope: Parent event
Owns Snippets: None Usage: Stimulus screen

Properties

NameDescription                              ConstraintsTypeOn
runtime
change
Control
Is Enabled        If set to false the element is completely omitted when the experiment is run                Boolean         
Title        Title of the element                String         
Text Settings
Text        Type your text here. Use Enter press to initiate a new text line                String         
Font Color        Color of the text                stColor         
Auto Size        If true, the text rendering area is resized automatically when the text is changed                Boolean         
Font        Select a font from the list                String         
Font Size        Defines the font size, when the auto size mode is on                Double         
Text Alignment        Horizontal text alignment inside of a text area                TextAl..         
Visual Appearance
AntiAliasing        if true, the rendered content will be antialiased for smoother visual appeariance. If false, rendering will be authentic to its source, e.g. a bitmap.                Boolean         
Alpha Masking        Defines, whether the visual content is used to create an opacity mask on the event surface. If masking is on, the content's pixel luminance (or, its inverse) defines transparency within element's viewport. The alpha masking allows, for example, create transparent holes on the event surface.                Int32         
Position        Defines a position of the rendering viewport on the screen                clPoint         
Size        Defines a size of the element's rendering viewport on the screen                clSize         
Z Order        Indicates Z Order of the element on the given event                Int32         
Pivot Point        Defines alignment of the pivot point (or, element's position) relative to element's rendering area. The pivot point sets the center of element's rotation and scale directions.                stAlig..         
Visible        Defines whether the element is visible                Boolean         
Rotation        Rotation angle in degrees                Double         
Effects
Transparent Color        The color of the original pixels of rendered content that will be set as transparent                stColor         
Transparent Tolerance        Tolerance ratio for choosing colors that become transparent. Zero means that effect is not applied, 1 denotes that all colors will become trasparent                Int32         
Color Mask        Produces a multiplicative combination of the original pixels and the selected mask color (except the alpha channel).  The effect emulates a look through a colored glass.  White or transparent mask color dont change the original pixels                stColor         
Opacity        Opacity of the rendered content                Int32         
Contrast        Contrast of the rendered content                Int32         
Brightness        Brightness the rendered content                Int32         
Saturation        Saturation of the rendered content                Double         
Pixelation        Pixelation of the rendered content                Int32         
Blurring        The radius used in the gaussian blur of rendered content, as a pixel-based factor. The default is 0 which means no blurring.                Int32         
Scrambling                        Double         
Scrambling Grid Size        Defines a size of the scrambling grid                clSize         
Positional Jitter
Reset Jitter Now        Runtime command that resets the positional jitter.                Boolean         
Current Jitter        Returns the current jitter                clPoint         
Jitter Range        Defines a possible range for the random jitter. The range is centered to the position of the element.                clSize         
Test Jitter        Click to test the current jitter                Boolean         

Text Element allows displaying text blocks for instructions and feedback. Element provides a variety of text decoration options, e.g. font, color and alignment selection. The text content can be always changed and reformatted at runtime.

Snapshots

Text element in the EventIDE scene editor

Text element in
the EventIDE scene editor

Multiple textblocks with different  fonts (inluding the symbol font), colors and visual effects applied

Multiple textblocks with different
fonts (inluding the symbol font),
colors and visual effects applied

Multiple textblocks making  an instruction screen

Multiple textblocks making
an instruction screen


Practical Use

Creating a single textblock on a visual scene

  1. Select Event where you want to place a textblock
  2. Add Text Element into that event, the element will appear at the center of the screen
  3. Select the element in the Element List
  4. Edit the Text property of the element in the Property Panel. Use the return key to add new lines.
  5. Adjust the size of element's rendering area in the Scene Editor with the mouse. Alternatevly, set the uniform font size by adjusting the AutoSize property.
  6. Change the font, color and text alignment of the elementif nessesary, with the corresponding properties in the Property Panel
  7. Adjust element's screen position, if nessesary

Using the text element for delivering visual feedback

  1. Add Text Element into a feedback event.
  2. Create a Proxy Variable, for example, called FeedbackText, linked to the Text property of the element.
  3. Add the following code into any snippet called before activation of the feedback event in each trial (Snippet suggestion- OnDeactivated of the previous event or OnActivating of the parent event)

 // Check the trial outcome. Result and RT just other user variables
if (Result==true)
{
FeedbackText="Correct";
}
else
{
FeedbackText="Wrong";
}

if (RT>5000)
FeedbackText="Too Late";


Notes

If you use the transparent background in the parent event and the global backgound is bright, then you may discover that a tiny border around the text is rendered by the Text Element. To prevent this rendering issue from happening you can either set a solid background for the parent event or switch-off the antialiasing in properties of Text Element.