# Pass parameters between Dock and Primary View **URL:** \ **Category:** Ignition Early Access\ **Created:** [March 31, 2019, 2:16am UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/pass-parameters-between-dock-and-primary-view/23732 "2019-03-31T02:16:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NorthPoint](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a88e4f/32.png) [@NorthPoint](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/NorthPoint)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 2:16am UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/pass-parameters-between-dock-and-primary-view/23732/1 "2019-03-31T02:16:06Z")
Is it possible to pass data from a docked view to the primary view? Other than with session parameters, that is. ---
**Author:** ![silverbacknet](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/silverbacknet/32/7385_2.png) [@silverbacknet](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/silverbacknet)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 5:26am UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/pass-parameters-between-dock-and-primary-view/23732/2 "2019-03-31T05:26:56Z")
That’s essentially what the ‘Params’ custom properties of a view is for: Known public properties that will affect something in the view when changed. Of course, you can change a property at any level or grovel inside the view and call a custom method on one of its components, since everything is public by default, but that way lies madness. Hopefully views will also gain public methods; that would be a lot cleaner and more natural than directly changing properties. Edit: It looks like you can access the custom methods on a view via the menu bar, Component-\>Configure Scripts, even though they don’t show in the right-click menu. ---
**Author:** ![silverbacknet](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/silverbacknet/32/7385_2.png) [@silverbacknet](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/silverbacknet)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 7:57am UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/pass-parameters-between-dock-and-primary-view/23732/3 "2019-03-31T07:57:12Z")
I just stumbled across this page that describes Message Handling as the preferred solution to this exact problem: [https://docs.inductiveautomation.com/display/DOC80/Component+Message+Handlers](https://docs.inductiveautomation.com/display/DOC80/Component+Message+Handlers) ---
**Author:** ![NorthPoint](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a88e4f/32.png) [@NorthPoint](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/NorthPoint)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 6:04pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/pass-parameters-between-dock-and-primary-view/23732/4 "2019-03-31T18:04:06Z")
Thank you silverbacknet. I tried to get the parameters to work on the dock setup, but it is less than obvious how they should be used- since they allow you to just type in a name, and there is no binding in either window, I kind of assumed that the name you typed in there would have to exist on both the primary and dock views, but that didn’t seem to work (though I was not willing to go through the various permutations). I saw the bit about the messages too, and I guess that is the way to go. I’ve not tried them yet. ---
**Author:** ![cmallonee](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/cmallonee/32/6416_2.png) [@cmallonee](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/cmallonee)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 3:05pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/pass-parameters-between-dock-and-primary-view/23732/5 "2019-04-01T15:05:31Z")
Okay, so there are several things going on in this conversation, and it sounds like there’s a bit of confusion as well… 1. Docked View parameters are terrible right now, but we’re working on it. Probably not 8.0, but 8.0.1 for sure (I believe the changes barely missed the cut-off). 2. Parameters _can_ be used to send data back-and-forth, but they shouldn’t be used that way in 99% of cases. Parameters **should** be used just as in coding, in that you supply them at the start and the method/builder/class (View) uses them to do something. While you _could_ have a “return” of sorts, what would you return after “building” a View? 3. Communication back-and-forth between Views should absolutely be handled wherever possible by using Message Handlers. ---
**Author:** ![NorthPoint](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a88e4f/32.png) [@NorthPoint](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/NorthPoint)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 3:19pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/pass-parameters-between-dock-and-primary-view/23732/6 "2019-04-01T15:19:40Z")
Gotcha. There is a lot to get used to.