STARTUPINFO EDITOR: Naming and Editing Property Values in StartupInfo Editor [22735]

Naming Properties
Property names can be changed by clicking on a cell in the Property Name column and typing in the desired name. The StartupInfo Editor also provides the Name Selected dialog to rename multiple items to a common prefix quickly, or to select a new property name from a list of common properties used in E-Prime experiments.

To open the Name Selected dialog, select "Add" from the Property menu (or click the "Add" icon in the Property bar). Alternatively, you can select one or more items in the Workspace and then choose "Name" from the Property menu, click the "Name Selected" icon in the Property bar, or press F2.
 

The Name Selected dialog contains a dropdown menu containing many property names native to E-Prime experiments (e.g., Subject, Display.XRes, Display.YRes) or commonly used when collecting startup information (e.g., Age, Group, etc). Using a property name that is native to E-Prime will allow you to edit experiments without having to actually open them in E-Studio.

A property name can be selected from the dropdown menu or typed into the field. Once the new name has been entered, click the Name button to complete the process.

NOTE: If multiple items are selected, the new name will be used for all of them. Multiple items can share the same name when working in the StartupInfo Editor. This is useful if you will have multiple items with the same prefix (e.g., Subject.Name, Subject.Occupation, etc). However, each item must have a unique name when the StartupInfo file is saved. Attempting to save the StartupInfo file containing Items that share the same name will result in an error, and conflicts must be resolved before the file may be successfully saved.

Editing Property Values

Property values may be changed by clicking on a cell in the Value(s) column and directly typing in the cell, or by entering the value using the Edit Value option in the Property menu. The Edit Value dialog presents an empty text field for entering a value or values. Value(s) entered may be a single number or word, a string of text, or multiple values (i.e., sub-values) separated by a delimiter character (*). Sub-values may be added by clicking on the Add Sub-Value button.

Each sub-value is assigned a number, and a sub-value can be accessed by selecting its corresponding index number from the dropdown menu. Sub-values can be removed by selecting them from the dropdown menu and clicking the Remove Sub-Value button.  
 

After entry, sub-values appear in the Value(s) field, separated by the delimiter character (*). The image below illustrates a property (i.e., MenuOptions) defined by three sub-values (i.e., 1=Visual Task, 2=Verbal Task, 3=Quit).  The asterisk delimiter character separates the sub-values. The value of the property may then be parsed during the experiment (i.e., using script or commands to check for the delimiter character) to identify individual sub-values.

Next Article: STARTUPINFO EDITOR: StartupInfo Parameters [22736]
Previous Article: STARTUPINFO EDITOR: Local and Global Values [22734]