Like an input port on a node, a published input port can have a constant value. (The exception is protocol published input ports, which are explained in Making compositions fit a mold with protocols.)
You can edit a published input port’s constant value by double-clicking on the port, which brings up an input editor.
If the published input port has a numerical data type, you can also edit the input editor’s range. Right-click on the published port and go to
. Suggested Min and Suggested Max are the recommended lower and upper bounds of the data value. If both are set, then the input editor will have a slider, a text field, and up and down arrows. Otherwise, the input editor will only have a text field and up and down arrows. Suggested Step controls the step size of the up and down arrows.If you’re running the composition as a standalone composition (not a subcomposition), after you edit a published input port’s data, the new data will immediately flow through any cables directly connected to the published input port — but no farther. This is a rare case in which data flows without an event.
For example, in the composition below, if you change the value of TextPosition from (0, 0) to (1, 1), the value of the Position port on Make Text Layer immediately changes to (1, 1). But the Make Text Layer node doesn’t execute and doesn’t affect any nodes downstream — so the text in the window remains at (0, 0) for the moment. The next time Fire Periodically fires an event, the event hits Make Text Layer, causes the node to execute with the new Position value, and travels onward along with the resulting data to Render Layers to Window — so the text in the window now appears at (1, 1).
To learn about constant values of published input ports in subcompositions, see this section.