State Editor

States are used to graphically represent the status of objects, such as the status of a preset a button controls. A state's purpose is to make the control visibly different between state changes. The State Editor allows you to add, remove, and configure the states for a selected control(s) including some parent objects.

Each control and some parent objects can have up to 256 states. A state can be used to override certain general properties such as color and text options. Each state of a control in ControlDesigner is used as an indicator state when assigning control functionality in LightDesigner.

To view all states for a selected object, right-click on the object and select "View All States". The View States widget displays. Reference View States for more information.

When selecting one or more controls of the same type (see Controls), the available state editor down menu populates with the states that are available for the selected control(s). Selecting a state from the state picker displays the properties of the selected state.

TIP: If more than one control is selected and a state applied, only the shared properties will be enabled for selection.

Selecting a state for the control renders the control with the state in the Page workspace. If any of the selected control(s) do not define the current state, those controls will be rendered in their default state (see Default state) and will become partially transparent. Deselecting a control will return it to its default state and opacity.

An object may have several states by default. These default states can include:

Lockout - used to show the specified object function is locked out
Neutral - used to show the specified object function has an intermediate status
Off - used to show the specified object function is deactivated
On – used to show the specified object function is active
Override - used to show the specified object function is overridden
Warning – used to show the specified object is in a special state that may require attention

For more information on creating default button states please reference the ThemeDesigner online help.

Adding, Removing and Applying Tools

Add a State

To add a new state to a control or parent object:

Select the control or object you wish to add a state.
Click the [Add State] icon located in the State Editor. A new state will be created and be made available in the State Editor drop down box.

Remove a State

To remove a state form a control or parent object:

Select the control or object you wish to remove the state from.
Click the [Remove State] icon located in the State Editor. The state will no longer be available in the State Editor for that control or object and the control state will default to the default state if there is a defined default state for that control in the theme.

Apply New Skin Set

You can apply a new skin set to a selected control or parent object when more than one skin set is available in the theme.

Select the control and click the [Apply New Skin Set]icon . The "Apply Skin Set" dialog displays for selection of the new skin set.
Select the new skin set from the drop-down menu and click [OK]. The control will display with the new skin set applied.