5. Practice Modules for FXC

These five modules are written to highlight some of the features of FXC and represent only a small portion of the total capabilities.



NOTE:

Be sure to use the Mouse Tooltip feature to identify menus and icons within the toolbars. Simply move the Mouse Cursor over an icon or options menu and wait for an identifying purple tag to appear. FXC Client must be connected to a server for real-time data access.

5.1 Module 1 - Objective: Creating a New Slide Show and Adding One Image Slide

Steps

1. From the File Pull-Down Menu in the Menu Bar, select New Slide Show. This should bring up a dialog box that prompts you for a name for the slide show. After entering the name, the large Slide Show Dialog Box will appear with no slides listed in the white area of the dialog box. Also, note that the words "Slide Show" have been added in the top border of the main window.

2. Now, from the Satellite Pull-Down Menu in the FXC, load 4 frames of IR Satellite data on the CONUS scale. These data will be used to create your first slide.

3. Back in the Slide Show Dialog Box, open the Select Slide Type Options Menu and choose "Image Slide Only."

4. Press the Create Slide Menu Button and observe that the "IR Window" slide appears in your Slide Show List.

5. Click on the lever icon next to the IR Window slide and note that there is no text for this slide and there are 4 backgroung images.

6. Clear the IR Satellite image from the FXC Display.

7. Keep the Slide Show open for Objective 2. Please note that your slide show is automatically saved every minute, so the slide show you are generating won't be lost.

5.2 Module 2 - Objective: Creating a Text Slide

Now that you have created an image-only slide, let's add a text-only slide to your slide show. The text will be generated from predefined text templates.

Steps

1. In the Slide Show Dialog Box, open the Select Slide Type Options Menu and choose "Text Slide Only."

2. Press the Create Slide Menu Button. Immediately a dialog box appears from which you can choose a text template. From the EasternRange file, select the Airmass.html file. Observe that the textual information appears in the FXC Display. Note also that a new "Airmass" slide is in your Slide Show.

3. Click on the lever icon next to the Airmass slide and note that there is a Text Overlay and no background images for this slide.

4. Clear the Airmass text information from the FXC Display.

5. Keep the Slide Show open for Objective 3.

5.3 Module 3 - Objective: Creating a Combined Image and Text Slide

The third type of slide combines images with text. Typically, the image is used as a background for the text, although you may use image data or colored backgrounds of your choice, as long as they are in jpg, png, or gif format.

Steps

1. In the Slide Show Dialog Box, open the Select Slide Type Options Menu and choose "Image and Text."

2. From the FXC File Pull-Down Menu, select the GIF/JPEG/PNG Background option. Immediately a dialog box opens from which you can choose from an assortment of pregenerated image files. For this example, please select the WR_logoBar.jpg file. The image will appear in the FXC Display.

3. Press the Create Slide Menu Button. This brings up the Text Template Files Menu. For this example, please choose delay.html. Note how the textual information is overlayed onto the logo bar image.

4. Note how this third slide is listed in your slide show as "Bundle 1." Click on the Rename Menu Button to open the Rename Slide Dialog Box. Type in "24-hr Delay" for this third slide.

5. Click on the lever icon next to the 24-hr Delay slide and note that there is a Text Overlay and one background image for this slide.

6. Keep the Slide Show open for Objective 4.

5.4 Module 4 - Objective: Editing Text Within a Slide

In most cases, the text templates will need to be modified to your current launch weather scenario. This is easily accomplished as the following steps will show.

Steps

1. In 24-hr Delay Slide, click on the Text Overlay. The Edit Text... Menu Button becomes active.

2. Click on the Edit Text... Menu Button. Immediately the Change Contents of Fields Dialog Box opens, containing the predefined fields of the 24-Hour Delay Template. Use the Tab Key on your keyboard to navigate through the various fields. Feel free to modify several fields.

3. When you are finished editing the fields, press the OK Menu Button, and note the changes automatically reload in the FXC Display.

4. Using the Move Up and Move Down Menu Buttons, you can reorder the slides as needed.

5. Now, press the Close Menu Button to close your new slide show. Remember, the system automatically saves it.

6. From the FXC Main Toolbar, press the Clear Icon Button to clear the FXC Display.

5.5 Module 5 - Playing Back an Existing Slide Show

This module explains how to play back the newly created slide show and demonstrates image animation within a slide show.

Steps

1. From the Menu Bar select the File Pull-Down Menu and select the Open Slide Show option. The Open Slide Show Dialog Box appears and contains a list of the names of existing slide shows. After selecting the desired show (the one you created above), the large Slide Show Dialog Box will appear with a list of the slides (Bundles). Also, note that the words "Slide Show" have been added in the title bar of the FXC Display.

   Note:

   Depending on the desktop environment of some Linux systems, your slide show may open but is iconified in the desktop toolbar. If this happens, simply open the desktop toolbar and double-click on your slide show name.

2. Select the first slide by double-clicking on the name of the slide. This will cause the first slide to be displayed. An alternate method for displaying the slide is to click once on the name of the slide and then selecting the Load Menu Button in the Slide Show Dialog Box.

3. Advance to the next slide by pressing the "Down Arrow" on the keyboard, or by clicking on the Next Menu Button in the Slide Show Dialog Box. The second slide containing the text information is displayed.

4. You can advance through the slide show automatically by selecting the Auto-Load Check Button and choosing the desired time interval between slides from the Options Menu next to the Auto-Load Check Button. Keep in mind that slide containing more data may need mmore time to display, and this may need a longer time interval between slides.

5. To exit the slide show, select the Close Menu Button at the bottom of the Slide Show Dialog Box.