Part 10 — Analog Increment
The Analog Increment logic symbol is very common, and is often used in conjunction with volume gauges….
You essentially feed in two digital symbols for buttons, and also provide a bunch of parameters, which will then feed out an analog value which is usually passed to a gauge…
It’s the parameters that often catch people out as they misunderstand what these parameters are doing.
Lower Limit, upper limit and mute level are fairly self-explanitary, so we can skip them, but this is what the rest do:
Increment
This defines how much the analog value will increase or decrease every time the “up” or “down” digital input is triggered.
Example: In this case, the analog value will increase or decrease by 1 each time the volume_up or volume_down signal is received.
HoldTime
This determines how long you need to hold the button (digital input) before the value starts continuously increasing or decreasing.
Example: If you press and hold the volume_up or volume_down button, the system will wait 0.2 seconds before it starts adjusting the value repeatedly, as defined by the RepeatTime setting. This delay allows for a single press without causing multiple changes unless the button is held down.
Note: For example, if the HoldTime is set to 5 seconds, you’ll need to hold the button for 5 seconds before it starts incrementing automatically. Typically, you want this value to be very small to make the control feel quick and responsive.
RepeatTime
This controls how often the value increments or decrements while the button is held down, after the HoldTime has passed.
Example: After holding the button for the HoldTime (e.g., 0.2 seconds), the system will then change the value every 5 time units (which could be milliseconds, depending on the system’s configuration). If you continue to hold the button, the value will keep changing at this interval.
Note: It’s important to set this value carefully. If it’s too large, the adjustments will happen too slowly, making the control feel sluggish. On the other hand, if the value for RepeatTime is set too low, the value could change too quickly! For example, if the RepeatTime is too short when controlling volume, the volume might jump from 0 to 100 in just 1–2 seconds, which could be undesirable.
