ANY-maze Help > The ANY-maze reference > The Protocol page > The elements of a protocol > Testing > Events and actions > Setting up an action > Specifying the effect of an action

Specifying the effect of an action

Events and actions have been replaced by procedures, but they are documented here as they can still be used in legacy experiments.

In brief

You should select the effect, or effects, of an action using the list shown on the action's settings page. You can choose any number of different effects from the various groups available.

Details

An action's effect is performed when the action is triggered. The action can have a single effect (e.g. to end the test) or multiple effects (e.g. to play a sound and to activate an on/off output).

The effects are shown in groups. Some groups, such as Test control, are always present while others, such as a group to control an on/off output, depend on what other elements are defined in the protocol.

Specifically, the possible groups are:

Test control

The options in this group allow you to pause, unpause, or end the running test.

Video recorder control

The options in this group allow you to start, stop, pause, or unpause the video recorder. There's also an option to add a label to the video recording. Note that, with the exception of Start, these options will only actually have an effect if the test is being recorded - see What to record while testing.

The start option will actually begin recording the test (if the test is already being recorded, it will have no effect). The name and location of the video file and the quality of the recording are set in the same way as they would be if the Automatically record videos of all tests option was being used - you'll find full details in the What to record while testing topic.

X on/off output

The options in this group allow you to activate or deactivate the output.

X speaker

The options in this group allow you to switch a speaker on or off, or change what the speaker plays.

X temperature controller

The options in this group allow you to dynamically alter the temperature of the temperature controller.

X light controller

The options in this group allow you to dynamically alter the light level of the light controller.

X syringe pump

The options in this group allow you dynamically change the running state, direction, flow rate, or volume of the syringe pump.

X shocker

The options in this group allow you administer shocks and dynamically alter their duration and/or intensity.

Sounds

The options in this group allow you to turn the ANY-maze white noise generator on or off, or play a Test action sound. The specific sounds played are defined in the Sounds section of the ANY-maze Options page.

X event

The options in this group allow you to activate, deactivate, or reset the relevant event. Deactivating an event will prevent it from being used until it is activated again (i.e. it's as if the event doesn't exist); resetting an event will result in it not being 'active' when it is checked to see if the event has occurred.

Send an alert message

This option allows you to enter the text of a message and then specify how the message should be delivered when the action is triggered. The options include: Display on screen; Send as an E-mail; Send as an SMS message to a cell phone.

Run a program

This option allows you specify a program that should be run when the action is triggered. In fact, you can enter any Windows command line. For more details, see The 'Run a Program' action.

ANY-maze help topic T0438