Using Variables

What are Variables?

A Variable is a value or state that can both be referred to and changed by behaviours. They are used for keeping track of a state throughout the life of the show or scene. They can allow you to perform functions such as creating sequences, counting up the amount of time something has happened, or used to adjust parameters of the show, such as audience size and difficulty rating. 

• These values can take the form of Text, Numbers, On/ Off (boolean) and Option.
• Variables can either be added to the Show: Setup or Scene: Setup.
• If they are added in the Show: Setup, they become Show Variables and can be changed and referred to by any scene or dashboard widget in the show.
• If they are added in the Scene Setup, they can only be changed and referred to by that scenes' behaviours.
• They can be referred to in the When conditions OR in the If, Then, Otherwise action
• They are changed with the the Update scene variables & Increment scene variables actions.

Text Variable

• Creating a Text Variable means your state takes the form of text
• You must set a default state as a piece of text
• If you update this state, you need to update it with text
• if you refer to a Text Variable, you must write the text exactly as you have set it up

e.g. I have created a Text Variable with the default value of 'mango' in a scene. I want to refer to the default state of this variable in a behaviour so when adding a WHEN condition which refers to this text variable, I would type 'mango' into the field. I also want a different behaviour to change this variable to 'banana', so I would add a DO: Update scene variable action to that behaviour and type 'banana' in the text field. Another behaviour could refer to this 'banana' state, or change it to 'apple' and so on. 

Number Variable

• Creating a number variable means your state/value takes the form of a number
• You must set a default value as a number
• You can set a minimum and a maximum number that this state can be
• You can switch on/off allowing decimal places as part of your number states
• You are able to increment this value by a number (e.g. you can increment a state by 1 or 0.1 or 10 or 100 etc etc)
• If you update this state, you need to update it with a number which is within your set parameters
• If you refer to a Number Variable, you need to enter a valid number (e.g you cannot enter a number under the minimum or over the maximum you have set)

e.g. I want a button to be pushed 5 times to complete a scene. I make a behaviour that means every time that button is pushed, an action increments my number variable by 1. I set a default of 0, a minimum of 0 and maximum to 5. I have another behaviour which looks for when the variable reaches 5 and completes the scene. If I want the button to be pushed in a certain time frame, I would have other behaviours which would start a delay then refer to the Number Variable. If it is not at 5, a behaviour can update the Number variable to 0. 

On/Off Variable

• A On/Off Variable can only be On or Off
• You must set a default of On or Off
• Behaviours can only update this variable to On or Off

e.g. I want to create a game where a button must be pushed at the same time a light is on to complete a scene. Using behaviours, I can update the state of the variable to On when the light is on and Off when the light is off. When the button is pushed a behaviours checks what state the variable is in and only if it is On will the scene complete. 

Option Variable

• Option Variables allow you to create a dropdown list of set states
• You can only set a default from this list
• You can only update this variable with options from this list

e.g. I want to change the nature of my show depending on difficulty rating, and i want the operator to set that before the beginning of each show. I create a Show Variable in my Show Setup which has the options of Easy, Medium and Hard. I create a Dashboard widget in Show Setup which uses this variable.

Throughout the shows scenes I have created different behaviours which refer to to the state of this Show Variable. If the operator selects Easy, only the behaviours that refer to the state as being 'Easy' will follow through. If they select Medium or Hard, only those behaviours that refer to them will follow through.