ANY-maze Help > The ANY-maze reference > The Protocol page > The elements of a protocol > Inputs and outputs > Selectors > Setting up a selector > Setting names for the different values of a selector

Setting names for the different values of a selector

Selectors are only available on certain types of device (such as the ANY-maze Operant interface and Ugo Basile Operon).

In brief

Each value that a selector can take can have a text value associated with it. For example, a selector which represents a bank of different coloured LEDs could have text values of "Red", "Green", "Orange" etc. to make it clearer which LED is which. This makes it easier to refer to the selector's values from within a procedure.

Details

The apparatus you're using will determine whether you can enter your own text values for a selector, and whether you can edit existing values. For example, the names of the LEDs on a Ugo Basile Operon are pre-defined, and cannot be edited; however, the values associated with the odours in the Operon's Olfactory add-on can be entered yourself, because the odour being used depends on what you put in each of the pumps.

If the apparatus allows it, then you can enter some text for each possible value of a selector. For example, if you have a 4-port selector where each port is connected to a different colour LED, you might define their values as follows:

Figure 1. A selector which has been given appropriate names for the LEDs that will be activated when the selector's value is changed.

Note that in the example above, although there are only four output ports, there are actually six values defined. The values from 1 to 4 will activate single LEDs; the value of 0 will turn off all LEDs, and the last value will turn on all LEDs simultaneously. The definition of which values will activate which ports is specified in the Selector's setup; at present this only the ANY-maze Operant interface and Ugo Basile Operon support selectors, and the definition of which ports control which selector values is not editable.

The names of the selector's values should reflect what the selector will do when each specific value is selected.

Limits

You can enter anything you like for each selector value, up to a maximum of 47 characters. Names must be unique within this selector's values.

The value names may not be editable if the apparatus has pre-defined names for the selector's values - for example, the LEDs on a Ugo Basile Operon.

ANY-maze help topic T0305