space engineers automatic lcd panel factory

Everything you will ever need to know about your ship and station displayed in real time on LCD panels in any vanilla games. modded games and servers! Now with cockpit panels support!

Thank all of you for making amazing creations with this script, using it and helping each other use it. Its 2022 - it"s been 7 years already since I uploaded first Configurable Automatic LCDs script and you are all still using it (in "a bit" upgraded form). Its just amazing :)

Every captain wants to have displays that show some useful info. Make your bridge display damaged blocks in engineering, engine room, etc. Make big screen by joining multiple Wide LCDs! Show power output, batteries status, laser antenna connections and much more. Make your docking bay display which landing gears are occupied. Make screens for docking fighers when landing gear is ready to dock so they can nicely see it from cockpit! Make one LCD per container to see its contents.. and much more!

Open your programmable block, click Edit, click Browse Workshop, select Automatic LCDs 2, click OK, Check code, Remember & Exit. Done. Your script is now updated.

If you have problem with some command then read the guide section for that command and make sure you use it correctly. Try to use it on separate LCD by itself so it"s easier for you to see the issue and definitely try some examples!

Unfortunately there is not enough space in description of the steam workshop page to fit full guide. Well.. there was, but thanks to your suggestions I added more commands and more cool stuff and it doesn"t fit there anymore. So I made this ultimate guide to answer all your questions! ;-)

This guide will give you full insight into how to use all the features of Automatic LCDs 2. You will find out what are the commands, what are the arguments of the commands and how to use them. It also contains full list of all commands with detailed description along with examples of use.

What is block?Block is every machine, button, cockpit, everything on your ship that is accessible through control panel. Armors are not blocks. Script only works with blocks.

Open your programmable block, click Edit, click Browse Workshop, select Automatic LCDs 2, click OK, Check code, Click Ok. Done. Your script is now updated.

Your commands are too long to fit on single line?You can use a \ to tell the script to continue the command on the next line, just make sure there is nothing after the \ not even a space.

This is very useful if you connect ships to your station or ship and you don"t want to see blocks of the connected ships on station LCDs. You can also use this script on multiple ships that connect together without worries that they will conflict once connected.

Script now only updates LCDs which are part of the same grid as programmable block. If you would like to change this please take look at What is LCD_TAG? section to learn how to change LCD_TAG.

LCDs that are connected using rotors, pistons or connectors are not updating?By default the script only updates LCDs that are part of the same grid as programmable block.

LCD_TAG is used to tell the script which LCDs are managed by the script. As all of you know the script looks for LCDs that have [LCD] in their name by default.

You can however change this to whatever you like. You can tell the script to manage LCDs in certain group or even tell it to manage all LCDs regardless of name.

How to change the LCD_TAG?You can change the LCD_TAG by editing the Custom Data of programmable block that runs the script. Let"s explain it by example:

How to tell the script to manage all LCDs regardless of name?LCD_TAG follows the same name filtering rules as commands. So you can set the Custom Data to:

You also can"t change the LCD_TAG during run. You need to recompile the script every time you change the LCD_TAG otherwise the script will still look for old tag.

It is now possible to join multiple LCDs together so they will look and work like single panel. Because of the limitations of text alignment it is only possible to join LCDs up and down. Not left to right. So the widest LCD you can have is Wide LCD. But you can have many of them under each other to form single big one.

NUMBER is position of LCD in array of LCDs. It doesn"t matter what number you choose. They just need to go one after another. So the topmost LCD will have the lowest number. For example 1. LCD under it will have 2, etc.

You can use this script on cockpit screens as well as screens of other blocks. In order to do that you have to mark the cockpit (or other block) with the LCD_TAG as you did with LCDs. So by default you add [LCD] to the name of the cockpit in order for the cockpit to be recognized by the script.

As soon as you do that the first screen on the cockpit will be controlled by the Automatic LCDs 2 and should display the usual message that you should write commands to custom data of the panel. If you need only this screen, you can write commands to Custom Data of the cockpit just as you do with LCDs.

Where is the index of the screen you want to write to. 0 is the first screen, 1 is the second screen, etc. The "AutoLCD" part just needs to be there.

Easy way to know the index of the screen is when you look at the control panel of the cockpit, find the list of the LCD panels and pick one. For example "Keyboard" screen is 4th in the list of the LCD panels which means its index is 3 (because first one is 0). So if you would want to write only to the Keyboard screen your custom data would look like this:

You can use this on any block that has LCD panel screens. Script will not touch screens that you haven"t specified so you can use this with other scripts too. Read "Compatibility with other scripts" if you want to know how Automatic LCDs can share Custom Data with other scripts.

Script now only updates LCDs which are part of the same gridThis means that LCDs which are connected using connectors, pistons or rotors will not be updated to prevent conflicts between docked ships. This does not apply when ships are connected using merge block because in that case they behave like single ship in game.

LCDs are updating much slower when more ships are docked using merge blockIf there are more ships using this script docked together using merge block then the programmable blocks will not split the work efficently automatically.

I recommend using different LCD_TAG for each ship and station. Look at Tips and Tricks section of this guide to learn how to do that. This will ensure that programmable blocks always update only LCDs on the ship/station they are intended for.

LCDs are showing items, power, cargo, etc of all docked shipsThis will happen if you use no arguments to commands or if you use * or if you use same names for groups / blocks on both ships. Make sure you read Same ship blocks filtering section to learn how to filter only blocks of the same ship.

Displays inventory summary for certain item types. It automatically adds 0 items lines for vanilla game items. Script will automatically display even modded items if they are in the inventories, but it will not report missing modded items.

Automatically separates reactors, engines, solar panels, wind turbines and batteries. Works with modded blocks. It shows maximum achievable power output for solar panels. That means that if there is no sun shining on solar panels then the maximum is 0 W.

Displays damaged and partially built ship/station blocks. Script only has access to blocks which are visible in control panel so no armor blocks, conveyor tubes, etc are considered.

They are case sensitive! Make sure you enter them exactly without any spaces before or after them. e.g. use {AutoDeploy} not {Auto Deploy} nor { AutoDeploy } nor {autodeploy}.

There are a lot of properties for many different blocks and listing them all here along with what they do would take a lot of space so I"m leaving that up to you to try.

Due to game limitations some blocks do NOT automatically update the details text until you look at them in control panel. This is VERY important as you always need to look at the block in control panel if you want the LCD to show updated text. This does not apply to all blocks!

Note: If you would like to display only leaking air vents you can use Working command and filter only LCDs that show LEAK using filtering described in Working command.

This is very useful when using different mods / scripts that write something to Custom Data of block and you would like to append it to your Automatic LCDs displays.

This is very useful when using different mods / scripts that type something on LCD and you would like to append it to your Automatic LCDs displays. This way you can have one LCD hidden that will be used by your mod / script and use TextLCD command to read that text and write it to one of the Automatic LCDs. Example: TextLCD {Other LCD} will append contents of first LCD named Other LCD.

So first is hours in 24-hour format then : then minutes with a leading zero then space then day of month then . then month number then . and then full year

You can also add this to button panel and setup action on button to Run the programmable block with argument. It needs to be the same programmable block that runs the script that shows the text on the screen on that particular LCD.

If you use custom font scroll down to the bottom of script, then scroll a bit up until you find AddCharsSize lines. Monospace font name and size definition is above those.

LCD clear functionWhen you Run the programmable block with argument "clear" (without quotes) it will clear all LCDs. You can use this to turn off your LCDs without having to actually turn them off where they would say "OFFLINE".

LCDs boot screensUnfortunately there is no easy way to find out that you turned off/on your ship so the script doesn"t automatically display boot screens after turn the power sources off and on. You can however use the LCD clear function to reset the LCDs when you turn on your ship/station. There is also special "boot" argument to start the boot sequence whenever you need it. Just Run the programmable block with "boot" (without quotes) as argument.

Automatic LCDs 2 is not a mod so you don"t need to do anything in dedicated server setup to use it except for having enabled in-game scripts in your world.

How to use LCDs that are connected using rotors, pistons or connectors?By default the script only updates LCDs that are part of the same grid as programmable block. First, I do recommend reading about "Same grid filtering" in separate section of this guide.

How to stop the script from changing Content Type of the panels?You can add line "SKIP_CONTENT_TYPE = true" (without quotes) to Custom Data of the programmable block to disable automatic panel content type change.

Keen has added MyIni format that scripters can use to parse Custom Data. This was added explicitly to make life easier for scripters when they need to use Custom Data and share it with other scripts. This was written by Malware (the creator of MDK framework for Space Engineers in-game scripting and father of Programmable Block) and I"ve been discussing with him how to make it compatible with Automatic LCDs without people having to learn new syntax so he came up with great solution.

If people also want to write Automatic LCDs commands to the same block where the Custom Data is already used by script that uses MyIni format then they can simply add 3 dashes on its own line and continue with Automatic LCDs commands like this:

Anything under the --- is ignored by the MyIni parser that other scripts use. Anything before the --- is completely ignored by the Automatic LCDs so this way Automatic LCDs can share Custom Data with other scripts and coexist peacefully :)

NOTE: Some scripts overwrite the Custom Data and if you already have some Automatic LCDs commands there they will remove them. If those scripts support the MyIni format then you can write your commands like this to make them not remove the commands (or set them up first and then use the format like explained above):

This script doesn"t work like other scripts on the workshop. Script updates dynamically as it needs and time between updates of most of the commands is several seconds depending on complexity of the command. There is not a single update time you can modify because the script doesn"t work that way. The script automatically limits itself and spreads the calculations over time to have minimal impact on the game performance. That"s why the more commands you use the longer it will take to update all of them. Unfortunately even if I figured out some way to let you configure update rates, I just can"t leave the update rates configurable for people, because the script would have very bad impact on game with high refresh rates and many people would not realize that - trust me, we"ve been there.

*** Check your ownership ***Always make sure that the programmable block and LCDs have the same ownership as the blocks you want to show on the LCDs. I highly recommend you own all the blocks unless you know how ownership works. Just open the control panel, select one of the blocks on your ship, press CTRL+A and change the ownership on the right side to "Me".

1. If your LCDs are on separate grid (behind rotor, piston, connector) they will not be updated. Read LCDs that are connected using rotors, pistons or connectors are not updating? section of Troubleshooting section of the guide.

Programmable block reports "Exception".If programmable block control panel shows "Exception" please report it in he "BUG REPORTS" discussion on main script page.

LCDs that are connected using rotors, pistons or connectors are not updating?By default the script only updates LCDs that are part of the same grid as programmable block. First, I do recommend reading about "Same grid filtering" in separate section of this guide.

If some of your LCDs are sometimes offline:it"s probably a game bug and it"s happening to more people. Someone said that loading game, returning to main menu and loading again helps.

Does your LCD just say ONLINE instead of showing things?Make sure that you named your LCD so it contains [LCD] . If you did, you are most probably using german client which has problems with [] characters that you type in game. You can use copy-paste to overcome it or simply use alternate built-in tag I made for you !LCD!

It"s just blank screen?Your command is wrong or there is simply nothing to show. Check your command syntax in full guide, try examples. Make sure that there is nothing in front of the command in LCD Public Title (game sometimes likes to hide the "Public title" text). Always press Home before entering command to make sure there is no text at the beginning of LCD Public Title that you don"t want to have there.

Programmable block reports "Index out of bounds".Make sure that you updated the script to latest version with all the fixes. Check that script has permissions to write to LCDs!

LCD Panel blocks have only one built-in LCD Surface, but other functional blocks have several LCD surfaces built in, for example Cockpits, Programmable Blocks, Custom Turret Controllers, Button Panels, and so on. All LCD surfaces work the same way, and have the same settings as the freestanding LCD Panel blocks. In constrast to the block variants, built-in LCD surfaces are fixed to their block "as is" and you cannot choose different screen sizes or positions. The advantage of the built-in surfaces is that they do not take up extra block space.

Tip: If you are looking for an option to display inventory capacity, radar view, planetary maps, hull integrity, and the like, alas these scripts are not available by default. To calculate and display such information, you need a Programmable Block. Advanced players can write custom scripts, and everyone can download community-provided scripts from the Workshop that can be configured to output info from the Programmable Block to an LCD of your choice.

Edit Text -- Click this button to enter or paste text to display. Lines don"t wrap automatically, so enter line breaks where necessary to make it fit.

Second, consider creating your custom image out of Monospace text, using Block Elements as pixels. Here is a great community app that converts any pictures into Block Element text: https://github.com/Whiplash141/Whips-Image-Converter/

How do we do it? Our agile workforce – from engineers and developers to supply chain experts – work together to respond quickly to a dynamically changing market, customizing solutions to fit each customer’s unique requirements.

A touchscreen or touch screen is the assembly of both an input ("touch panel") and output ("display") device. The touch panel is normally layered on the top of an electronic visual display of an information processing system. The display is often an LCD, AMOLED or OLED display while the system is usually used in a laptop, tablet, or smartphone. A user can give input or control the information processing system through simple or multi-touch gestures by touching the screen with a special stylus or one or more fingers.zooming to increase the text size.

The first finger driven touch screen was developed by Eric Johnson, of the Royal Radar Establishment located in Malvern, England, who described his work on capacitive touchscreens in a short article published in 1965Frank Beck and Bent Stumpe, engineers from CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research), developed a transparent touchscreen in the early 1970s,In the mid-1960s, another precursor of touchscreens, an ultrasonic-curtain-based pointing device in front of a terminal display, had been developed by a team around Rainer Mallebrein[de] at Telefunken Konstanz for an air traffic control system.Einrichtung" ("touch input facility") for the SIG 50 terminal utilizing a conductively coated glass screen in front of the display.

In 1972, a group at the University of Illinois filed for a patent on an optical touchscreenMagnavox Plato IV Student Terminal and thousands were built for this purpose. These touchscreens had a crossed array of 16×16 infrared position sensors, each composed of an LED on one edge of the screen and a matched phototransistor on the other edge, all mounted in front of a monochrome plasma display panel. This arrangement could sense any fingertip-sized opaque object in close proximity to the screen. A similar touchscreen was used on the HP-150 starting in 1983. The HP 150 was one of the world"s earliest commercial touchscreen computers.infrared transmitters and receivers around the bezel of a 9-inch Sony cathode ray tube (CRT).

Multi-touch technology began in 1982, when the University of Toronto"s Input Research Group developed the first human-input multi-touch system, using a frosted-glass panel with a camera placed behind the glass. In 1985, the University of Toronto group, including Bill Buxton, developed a multi-touch tablet that used capacitance rather than bulky camera-based optical sensing systems (see History of multi-touch).

In 1987, Casio launched the Casio PB-1000 pocket computer with a touchscreen consisting of a 4×4 matrix, resulting in 16 touch areas in its small LCD graphic screen.

A resistive touchscreen panel comprises several thin layers, the most important of which are two transparent electrically resistive layers facing each other with a thin gap between. The top layer (that which is touched) has a coating on the underside surface; just beneath it is a similar resistive layer on top of its substrate. One layer has conductive connections along its sides, the other along top and bottom. A voltage is applied to one layer and sensed by the other. When an object, such as a fingertip or stylus tip, presses down onto the outer surface, the two layers touch to become connected at that point.voltage dividers, one axis at a time. By rapidly switching between each layer, the position of pressure on the screen can be detected.

Surface acoustic wave (SAW) technology uses ultrasonic waves that pass over the touchscreen panel. When the panel is touched, a portion of the wave is absorbed. The change in ultrasonic waves is processed by the controller to determine the position of the touch event. Surface acoustic wave touchscreen panels can be damaged by outside elements. Contaminants on the surface can also interfere with the functionality of the touchscreen.

A capacitive touchscreen panel consists of an insulator, such as glass, coated with a transparent conductor, such as indium tin oxide (ITO).electrostatic field, measurable as a change in capacitance. Different technologies may be used to determine the location of the touch. The location is then sent to the controller for processing. Touchscreens that use silver instead of ITO exist, as ITO causes several environmental problems due to the use of indium.complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) chip, which in turn usually sends the signals to a CMOS digital signal processor (DSP) for processing.

In this basic technology, only one side of the insulator is coated with a conductive layer. A small voltage is applied to the layer, resulting in a uniform electrostatic field. When a conductor, such as a human finger, touches the uncoated surface, a capacitor is dynamically formed. The sensor"s controller can determine the location of the touch indirectly from the change in the capacitance as measured from the four corners of the panel. As it has no moving parts, it is moderately durable but has limited resolution, is prone to false signals from parasitic capacitive coupling, and needs calibration during manufacture. It is therefore most often used in simple applications such as industrial controls and kiosks.

In some designs, voltage applied to this grid creates a uniform electrostatic field, which can be measured. When a conductive object, such as a finger, comes into contact with a PCT panel, it distorts the local electrostatic field at that point. This is measurable as a change in capacitance. If a finger bridges the gap between two of the "tracks", the charge field is further interrupted and detected by the controller. The capacitance can be changed and measured at every individual point on the grid. This system is able to accurately track touches.

Unlike traditional capacitive touch technology, it is possible for a PCT system to sense a passive stylus or gloved finger. However, moisture on the surface of the panel, high humidity, or collected dust can interfere with performance.

Unsupported touchscreens are still fairly common in applications such as ATMs and data kiosks, but are not an issue as the typical user only engages for brief and widely spaced periods.

Biferno, M.A., Stanley, D.L. (1983). The Touch-Sensitive Control/Display Unit: A promising Computer Interface. Technical Paper 831532, Aerospace Congress & Exposition, Long Beach, CA: Society of Automotive Engineers.

Hong, Chan-Hwa; Shin, Jae-Heon; Ju, Byeong-Kwon; Kim, Kyung-Hyun; Park, Nae-Man; Kim, Bo-Sul; Cheong, Woo-Seok (1 November 2013). "Index-Matched Indium Tin Oxide Electrodes for Capacitive Touch Screen Panel Applications". Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. 13 (11): 7756–7759. doi:10.1166/jnn.2013.7814. PMID 24245328. S2CID 24281861.