User`s guide

7 Storing Adaptor Information in an IMDF File

7-8

The first line of the help lists the name of the property with its constraints, such as

range and permission.

The text of the help appears exactly as you enter it in the IMDF file. You include the

text after the AdaptorHelp tag.

The See Also line is created by the SeeAlso node.

Creating AdaptorHelp Nodes

This section describes how to create help text for a property using the set of help

tags defined by the IMDF DTD. The following example shows the IMDF entry for the

Brightness property, displayed in “User Scenario: Viewing Property Help” on page

7-6. The example sets the property attribute of the AdaptorHelp tag to the name

of a property.

Note Help text must start with a one-line summary. Make sure that each line of text is

no longer than 80 characters.

Specify the brightness, also called the black level.

Brightness describes the difference in intensity of light reflected from

or transmitted through an image independent of its hue and saturation.

For some devices, the value is expressed in IRE units * 100. For other

devices, the units are arbitrary. Refer to the device's documentation for

information.

Depending on the acquisition device, this property may have an associated

mode property allowing this value to be controlled automatically by the

device, or for it to be manually configured.

<SeeAlso>BrightnessMode.</SeeAlso>

</AdaptorHelp>

Including Device-Specific Help Text

To include help text that only appears for specific devices, use DeviceHelp elements.

In this example, the help text contains three device-specific sections. Note how the

example sets the device attribute of the DeviceHelp property to the name of a device.

Enables the strobe output and its timer.