Hide HMI radio button labels that will not accept text

Why do radio button labels past 8 refuse custom text?

Custom labels save for the first 8 buttons only: on a control set up with Set by Word Tags, text typed for buttons 9 and above does not stick. The panel keeps its defaults Off #9, On #9 and upward, as editor version 2.42 shows.

Word tags exist to push one radio control past 8 positions, so the fault sits exactly where the mode earns its keep. It touches label text only. The control still writes its configured tag value when an operator presses a button, and the checks below confirm that on the panel. Label text on HMI controls has other hard limits; if wording will not wrap where you expect, an HMI button label that will not take a line break is the companion fault. No corrected editor version is identified here, so read the version in your installed editor before assuming it is past the fault.

What does the editor dialog show that the panel does not?

The setup dialog repeats button 8's default text, Off #8 and On #8, in every label entry from 9 upward. The panel numbers its own defaults Off #9, On #9, Off #10 and so on. That mismatch is the signature of the fault.

Two display problems sit in one control. The dialog's Text Setting panel shows button 8's defaults in the entries for 9 and above, which misleads you while you edit. The real failure is the edit itself: you type custom text for button 10, the entry takes it, and the panel still shows Off #10 after download. That combination is why an hour of re-editing changes nothing on the glass. Treat the panel as the record of what actually applied.

How do you confirm this fault before changing anything?

Check three things: the control uses Set by Word Tags, buttons 1 through 8 keep their custom labels, and the panel still shows Off #9 style defaults after a fresh download. Those three together identify this fault.

Work down the symptoms until one line matches your screen:

• Dialog entries from 9 upward read Off #8 and On #8: the dialog fault is present, and edits past 8 will not reach the panel.
• Panel still shows Off #9 and Off #10 after custom text and a download: the edit did not apply; the fix in this article covers it.
• Buttons 1 through 8 keep their custom labels: the fault begins at button 9, exactly as documented.
• Pressing a button gives the expected tag value or machine response: the selection works, and the display-only fix is safe to apply.
• Selection is wrong, or buttons 1 through 8 also lose their labels: a separate fault in tag assignment, control setup or the download. Correct that first; the overlay assumes a control that selects correctly.

Record the editor version and save a project copy before touching the display, so the workaround can be reversed or reported with exact details.

What is the fix for labels on buttons 9 and above?

Set the radio button control's text color to exactly the screen background color so its native labels vanish. Then place static text objects over the button positions from 9 upward with the wording the operator should read.

1. Open the affected radio button control and set its text color to the screen background color. The label stays part of the control and the selection still works; the color only hides the text.
2. Place one static text object over each affected label position and type the real wording. Keep the text tall enough to read: on a 7-inch panel viewed from 3 ft, 0.15 in capitals is a common floor for short mode names. Static text carries its own font, size and justification; putting a full page of static text on an HMI screen covers placement and alignment in detail.
3. Keep every overlay clear of the touch target: the button's selectable area must stay uncovered, so bias each text object toward the label side.
4. Save a project copy, download to the panel with your normal transfer process, and judge the result on the panel, position by position.

One later edit can undo the overlay: moving the control leaves the static text behind. Re-check alignment after any screen change that touches the control.

Example scenario: labeling a 12-position selector on a 7-inch panel

Scenario: a 7-inch HMI screen needs 12 operating modes on one radio control, viewed from 3 ft, so the control runs Set by Word Tags with 0.15 in capital height on the labels. Buttons 1 through 8 take native custom labels. Buttons 9 through 12 reject theirs.

Work the numbers. The control needs 12 positions and word-tag mode provides them. The label fault begins at button 9, so the overlay count is 12 − 8 = 4 objects. Set the control's text color to the screen background, then place 4 static text objects, one over the label of button 9, 10, 11 and 12, each carrying the mode name the operator expects. Download and count what the glass shows: 8 native labels plus 4 overlays comes to 12 readable positions. Press all 12 and watch the tag change as configured, because the fault never touched the tag writing. The result is a 12-position selector with correct wording everywhere and no dependence on the editor's label entries past 8.

How do you verify the labels on the panel?

Judge the labels from the panel glass after the download, position by position from button 9 upward. The dialog preview can still look right after an edit that never saved, so the glass is the only check that counts.

Press every overlaid button, not only the first: button 9, then 10, then each one up to the last. Confirm the overlay wording shows and the expected selection follows. The editor's drawing and the panel can disagree on more than labels; the editor and panel text size mismatch article shows how far that drift goes. The same rule keeps every shop-floor screen honest: read it from the glass, under the screen's real background color, before the line runs on it.

When should you solve it another way instead?

Stay native whenever the screen can live with 8 or fewer radio buttons. Native labels need no overlay, no color match and no re-checking. Reserve the overlay for word-tag controls that must exceed 8.

• 8 or fewer positions on one screen: native labels, and nothing from this page is needed.
• More than 8 positions: overlay the positions past 8, or split the selection across two screens of 8 or fewer buttons where the operator flow allows it; two native screens are easier to maintain than one overlaid screen.
• Wording that must follow the operator's choice onto the next screen: that is dynamic text, and assigning a radio selection to dynamic text on the next HMI screen covers the mechanism.
• Buttons 1 through 8 failing, or selection misbehaving: a different fault with a different fix; resolve it before adding overlays.

Recommendation: keep native labels for buttons 1 through 8. For buttons 9 and above on a Set by Word Tags control, set the control's text color to the screen background and overlay static text with the operator's wording; download and verify every overlaid position on the panel. Where the operator flow allows it, split the selection across two screens of 8 or fewer buttons and skip the overlay entirely.

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