Defining Variable Name Display

As variable names can be very long, and thus hard to read, MDA V8.7 allows to shorten them based on user-definable rules. Each rule consists of a combination of sub-rules and the group of variables to which it shall be applied. Each sub-rule shrinks the variable name left or right from user-defined separator or character sequence. Multiple sub-rules are applied step-wise, i.e. the shrinked name from a former sub-rule is used as input for the subsequent sub-rule. All defined rules are listed in the block Rule Sequence. The individual rule are applied subsequently in the listed order. If the display name of a variable is modified by a rule, the variable is excluded from all following rule sets. This means that per variable only one rule will be used.

Note  

Per signal only one rule is applied.

The rule affects the Display Name only, but not the Name, Display Identifier, or Symbol Link as shown in the Variable Explorer or Information Window.

For more information about what is displayed from the variable name, see Defining Display Name in the Application.

You can perform the following actions:

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To add a rule

  1. To add a rule, click the icon in the Rule Sequence toolbar.

  2. Assign a name to the rule.

    By default the name is set to "Rule". If the name is already in use, it is extended by an increasing number.

  3. To add a new sub-rule, click the icon under Define sub-rules.

    A new sub-rule block appears.

  4. Select the direction from which the variable name shall be interpreted when applying the present sub-rule.

  5. Select in Action which segment of the variable name shall be hidden respectively remain visible.

  6. Define the Separator, e.g. a dot, underscore, slash, or similar, which shall be used for segmentation of the variable name.
    It is also possible to enter letters or numbers. You can use a single character or a string.
  7. The Number defines how often the separator must appear until the action is applied.
    The selected direction applies.

  8. Select the checkbox Trim leading and trailing to delete from the beginning and from the end respectively the undesired separators.

  9. Click Save to store all sub-rules and the group of variables to be effected.

    After saving, all affected variable names are updated in the active configuration. To apply the sub-rules to a specific group of variables, see To define the affected variables.

    A * indicates if a sub-rule set has unsaved changes.

To define the affected variables

  1. Click the Apply Sub-Rules to Variables where button to select the group of variables that you want to apply the sub-rule to. You can define the group of variables based on the variable's name, the ECU or device information, its association to a function or a group.
    By default the selection is set to All. In this case, the text field is disabled.
    By using another of the available options, the string entered in the text field defines to which variable names the defined sub-rule will be applied.

To adapt the example for test the sub-rule set

To see the effect of the defined sub-rules for a variable name, you can modify the example string.

  1. Copy the variable name to be used as test example from e.g. the Variable Explorer, Configuration Manager, or an instrument.

  2. Paste it into the field Example to test.

    The example string is the input for the first rule. The result of a rule is shown at the bottom of each sub-rule block.
    This intermediate result is used as input for the next sub-rule. The final result, i.e. after applying all sub-rules, is shown under the example string field. If the result string would be empty after applying the sub-rules, the original variable name is used without modifications.

To reorder sub-rules within the rule

  1. Click a rule in the Rule Sequence list.

    All sub-rules contained in the rule are shown in the editing area.

  2. Click a rule-set block in the list.

  3. Drag and drop the selected sub-rule block to the new position.
    The new position is indicated by a black line.

To reorder rules within the Rule Sequence

Only the first rule which modifies a variable name is applied. All subsequent ones will be ignored. Therefore you may need to adapt the order of the rules in the Rule Sequence.

  1. Click a rule in the Rule Sequence list.

  2. Drag and drop the selected rule to the new position.
    The new position is indicated by a black line.

To delete a rule

  1. Click the rule in the Rule Sequence list.

  2. Click in the Rule Sequence toolbar.

See also

Defining Display Name in the Application