The control definition dialog is used to edit controls. You can open it up by clicking on any visible control with the a control definition subtool selected or by right clicking with the pointing subtool selected. You can also open the Control Definition dialog from the Screen Definition dialog and from the text editor.
Type allows you to set the type of control. You can change from one type to another at any time. The dropdown list displays the available control types - select the one you want.
Text is the control text. Most typically this is displayed text or a variable name. Vensim will automatically add the surrounding quotation marks.
The Var button allows you to select a model variable name to place into the Text field. Click on this button and select the variable you want.
Position allow you to set the position and size of the control. In most cases this will be done by sizing and positioning the control on the screen so you can leave this alone. If you size a control in the screen and decide you would prefer the default sizing you can check the or default button for width or height. Using a default height is useful for BUTTON and any editing controls. TEXTONLY controls are often best left with default width and height.
Justification allows you to set the justification - usually L, R or C.
Font if not empty the edit box indicates a font that will override the screen font. You can select the font to be used by clicking on the Font button. If the edit box is empty the screen font will be used.
Accelerators specify the accelerators to be used for COMMAND and TEXTMENU controls and ranges on variable setting controls. See Control Anatomy for more details.
Commands
Shows the list of commands to be executed when the control is activated. If a command fails no further commands are executed. You can change the order of commands by dragging them around in the list. You can also use the buttons to add, remove and modify the commands in the list.
Delete deletes the highlighted command in the list. If nothing is highlighted nothing happens.
Edit opens the Command Definition dialog on the highlighted command. If no command is highlighted nothing happens. Double clicking on any command in the list is the same as clicking on the command then clicking on the Edit button.
Add opens the Command Definition dialog with an empty command and, if you click OK, adds the command the bottom of the list.
Shift to Screen shows the screen that should be shifted to if the commands execute successfully. This is blank if no screen is specified. You can select a screen from the dropdown list or type in a name. When the Control Definition dialog is opened from the Text Editor the list of available screens will be empty.
