#!F-adobe-helvetica-medium-r-normal--18* #!N #!CSeaGreen #!N #!Rall610 Transmitters and Receivers #!N #!EC #!N #!N In the Special category, there are two modules, Transmitter and Receiver, that should be used in larger visual programs. Each Transmitter can "broadcast" to any number of identically named Receivers. The name you choose for the Transmitter is analogous to a radio station's broadcast frequency. Receivers with the identical name are like radios tuned to that channel. Like radios, more than one Receiver can receive from a single Transmitter; more than one Transmitter can broadcast, each on a different frequency, requiring differently named ("tuned") Receivers. This means you reduce the clutter of wires looping all over the screen in the VPE. But the real advantage of Transmitters and Receivers is that you, the visual program author, can provide meaningful names that then appear on the modules in the visual program. This is a handy way to provide some visual documentation of the way the visual program is wired. #!N #!N Although you can add Transmitters and Receivers to your net at any time, and do not have to add them in pairs, you will find it is easier to add one or more Receivers to a net right after you place and name the corresponding Transmitter because Data Explorer automatically gives Receivers the same name as the most recently placed Transmitter. However, if you decide to add a Receiver later, just be sure to double-click the Receiver module and set its name to the name of the Transmitter you wish it to receive from. Changing the name of any Transmitter will automatically change the names of all associated Receivers, but changing the name of a Receiver affects only that specific module. #!N #!N A good way to use Transmitters is to broadcast "global variables," to use the terminology of traditional programming. For example, you are allowed only one Sequencer per visual program, but, as discussed earlier, the output of Sequencer may be used by many "subnets" to perform various functions. You may find it most convenient to place the Sequencer connected to a Transmitter you name "sequencer" near the top of your visual program (the lowercase "s" helps remind you of the function of this Transmitter, but you may use any name you like). Then, wherever in the net that you need to receive the current value of the Sequencer, attach a Receiver named "sequencer." #!N #!N Another global that you may want available is the path name of your current work directory. Attach a String Interactor to a Transmitter. Then pick up this "channel" with Receivers throughout the visual program, for instance, as an input to a Format module (the Format template must include a "%s" as a place-holder for a string input). You will find this especially convenient when you give your visual program to a colleague who will naturally place the visual program and data files in a differently named subdirectory on your colleague's workstation. By simply changing the name in the Interactor to identify the name of the work directory on the new machine, the visual program will be back in business. If you had "hard-coded" the name of the path into several modules on your visual program, the new user would have to hunt down all these references and do a lot of extra typing. #!N #!N #!N #!F-adobe-times-medium-i-normal--18* Next Topic #!EF #!N #!N #!Lall611,dxall612 h Documentation #!EL #!N #!F-adobe-times-medium-i-normal--18* #!N
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