# Displaying tag value within a sentence in the text field of a multistate indicator

**URL:** <https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/displaying-tag-value-within-a-sentence-in-the-text-field-of-a-multistate-indicator/105057>\
**Category:** Ignition\
**Tags:** vision\
**Created:** [April 14, 2025, 3:44pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/displaying-tag-value-within-a-sentence-in-the-text-field-of-a-multistate-indicator/105057 "2025-04-14T15:44:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![abee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@abee](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/abee)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2025, 3:44pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/displaying-tag-value-within-a-sentence-in-the-text-field-of-a-multistate-indicator/105057/1 "2025-04-14T15:44:47Z")

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Hello! I need to display tag values within the text fields corresponding to values in a multistate indicator. The multistate indicator changes text based on a step index tag. For each step, I need to show the value of the parameter mentioned in the step.

For example: Step 30's prompt currently reads "30 - Check for leaks for 30 seconds then press 'CONTINUE'." The number of seconds needs to be a dynamic value based on the value of a tag in my PLC, '[default]Parameters\_Test\_A/Parameters\_Test\_A\_0\_'.  
How do I reformat my prompt to display the value of this tag in place of the "30" in my original prompt.

Thank you!

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**Author:** ![lrose](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/lrose/32/62724_2.png) [@lrose](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/lrose)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2025, 4:54pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/displaying-tag-value-within-a-sentence-in-the-text-field-of-a-multistate-indicator/105057/2 "2025-04-14T16:54:45Z")

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Create three custom properties on your indicator. The first will hold the value of the prompt, just change your prompt so that instead of 30, it has `%i` in the place where you need the value, or the appropriate place holder syntax. The second will be bound to the PLC tag to hold the current value. The third property should have the starting time, I assume also bound to a tag in the PLC.

Finally, on the indicators actual text property use an expression binding like this:

```python
stringFormat({Property1},{Property3 - Property2})

```

Manual Entry for `stringFormat()`:

> **[stringFormat | Ignition User Manual](https://www.docs.inductiveautomation.com/docs/8.1/appendix/expression-functions/string/stringFormat)**
>
> This expression returns a formatted string using the specified format string and arguments. Mainly, this expression is used for building dynamic string objects.

Manual Entry for formatting elements that can be used:

> **[Data Type Formatting Reference | Ignition User Manual](https://www.docs.inductiveautomation.com/docs/8.1/appendix/reference-pages/data-type-formatting-reference#formatting-elements)**
>
> This page formatting patterns for dates, numbers, and strings.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![abee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@abee](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/abee)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2025, 5:52pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/displaying-tag-value-within-a-sentence-in-the-text-field-of-a-multistate-indicator/105057/3 "2025-04-14T17:52:48Z")

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Thank you for your input Irose. I am a bit confused on how to apply this to a multistate indicator. Please see the attached image of my multistate indicator.

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/original/3X/d/1/d14a0f43f35e5b2ec03fbe32c6b8bc5cdc73cdf0.png)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![lrose](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/lrose/32/62724_2.png) [@lrose](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/lrose)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2025, 5:56pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/displaying-tag-value-within-a-sentence-in-the-text-field-of-a-multistate-indicator/105057/4 "2025-04-14T17:56:27Z")

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That is the style editor, which has nothing to do with what you're attempting to do.

You want add custom properties and bindings to the component and properties.

> **[Vision Component Customizers | Ignition User Manual](https://www.docs.inductiveautomation.com/docs/8.1/ignition-modules/vision/working-with-vision-components/vision-component-customizer#custom-properties)**
>
> The Vision module provides a number of customizers to configure components in ways that are more complex or detailed for basic properties.

The properties will show up at the bottom of the component properties.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![abee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@abee](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/abee)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2025, 8:17pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/displaying-tag-value-within-a-sentence-in-the-text-field-of-a-multistate-indicator/105057/5 "2025-04-14T20:17:04Z")

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> [@abee](#):
>
> '[default]Parameters\_Test\_A/Parameters\_Test\_A\_0\_

Thank you very much!