6.1Dock Panels
The user interface uses a dock panel system, which allows the user to customize it to adapt to different use cases or screen resolutions. Almost every pane (sub-window) can be dragged around, made floating, dock to each other or over another: simply drag the title bar of a pane and drag it to its destination. If no other window is under the cursor, the window will become floating. You will see a cross of blue icons when dragging over another window. Drop the window on the appropriate icon to dock it to the left, right, top or bottom side or drop it in the middle to create a tab overlay.
Example
In this picture, the window explorer is floating with the window explorer docked on its right side. The Trigger Setup pane is docked to the right of the Channel Explorer and also Log right to Configuration Report.
6.2Toolbar
(from left to right)
New Project
Creates a new project
Open Project
Opens an existing project
Save Project
Save the current project
Save Project As...
Save the current project to a new location and keeps that location
Channel Explorer
Opens the Channel Explorer pane, if not already open
Trigger Setup
Opens the Trigger Setup pane, if not already open
WindowSet Editor
Opens the Window Set Editor pane, if not already open
Window Set Data
Opens the Window Set Data pane, if not already open
Window Explorer
Opens the Window Explorer pane, if not already open
Capture untriggered data
Creates a snapshot of all enabled channels in project (see Options for default setting) without applying any trigger settings
Capture triggered data
Creates a snapshot of all enabled channels in project (see Options for default setting) with actual trigger settings
Run test
Activates the current project settings to hardware, waits the specified delay time and returns the test results and recorded channel data
Command
Selects the command to perform when pressing the "Execute" button
Channel Selection
Selects the channels that will be included in the recorded TDMS file (all / selected)
Execute button
Executes the selected command (same like pressing Capture (un)triggered / Run Test buttons)
6.2.1Channel Explorer
The Channel Explorer allows you to add new hardware to your project and to configure all relevant settings for each device and channel. Only whole devices can be added or removed, adding a single channel is (also physically) not possible. Channels are displayed in a tree view under their devices and sorted either by name or channel number. Press the sort button to change the sort order.
Select a channel or device from the tree view and use the property editor to configure details. When selecting a channel, the window editor will also automatically update the display to show the associated window set (if any) and recorded channel preview data (if available)
Status information
The channel name is displayed in different styles for special status values:
- Bold: highlights channels that use the currently displayed window set
- Italic: channel is unused (has no window set assigned)
- Red: recorded channel (open TDMS file) has reported an error
- Green: recorded channel (open TDMS file) has no error
The Property Editor allows you to edit certain channel parameters. Read only properties are grayed out. For a detailed description of all available properties, see chapters Device and Channel
Editor view samples
Export channel settings
Generates a text file with channel settings for editing in an external tool (e.g. Excel) Refer to Import channel settings for syntax definition.
Import channel settings
Press the import button to import channel settings from a text file
Expected file format:
One line per channel, consisting of semicolon separated columns:
<DeviceName>:<ChannelNr><ChannelName><Connector><Comment>
Only matching rows will be changed, unknown or missing channels will be ignored
Example
RIO0:0;RIO0:AI00;A85;PinMatrix:3A3, AUX:1c
RIO0:1;RIO0:AI01;A2;PinMatrix:3A9, AUX:3c
RIO0:2;RIO0:AI02;A43;PinMatrix:3A15, AUX:5c
RIO0:3;RIO0:AI03;A1;PinMatrix:3A21, AUX:7c
RIO0:4;RIO0:AI04;A64;PinMatrix:3A27, AUX:9c
RIO0:5;RIO0:AI05;A22;PinMatrix:3A33, AUX:11c
RIO0:6;RIO0:AI06;A65;PinMatrix:3A39, AUX:13c
RIO0:7;RIO0:AI07;A23;PinMatrix:3A45, AUX:15c
RIO0:8;RIO0:AI08;;PinMatrix:3A51, AUX:17c
RIO0:9;RIO0:AI09;PCB1_FW_BELL_1.0;
RIO0:10;RIO0:AI10;PCB1_FW_BELL_1.1;
RIO0:11;RIO0:AI11;PCB1_FW_BELL_1.2;
6.2.2Trigger Setup
Navigation
Use Trigger Setup to configure the highlighted trigger. When the channel selection changes, the corresponding trigger is also selected automatically
Toolbar buttons
To copy settings between triggers, use the copy and paste toolbar buttons. Every user defined setting is transferred to the new trigger, except fixed properties like id, channel nr, trigger source etc.
Select the source trigger and press copy (1st button) to copy the settings to the clipboard
Select the destination trigger press paste (2nd button)
Use the third toolbar button to automatically adapt the generic trigger labels to their corresponding channel labels (plus additional trg_ prefix).
Property Editor
For a detailed description of all available trigger parameters see chapter Trigger. Depending on the selected trigger type, the property editor will show a different set of parameters:
6.2.3Window Explorer
The window explorer is used to configure Window Sets, Analysis Windows and Analysis Functions
It is divided into four sections:
All controls are generally bidirectionally data bound to the currently selected WindowSet/Window/Function, that means any change from outside (e.g. moving window by mouse) is instantly reflected in the associated controls and vice versa.
Toolbar
Window Explorer Toolbar functions
(from left to right)
New Window Set
Creates a new window set
Delete Window Set
Deletes the selected window set and removes all windows
New Window
Creates a new window to the currently selected window set in the center of the current view
Delete Window
Deletes the selected window and all of its functions
Move item up
Moves the selected WindowSet / Window / Function one position upwards, if it is not already the topmost. Note that the selection may change after this action!
Move item down
Moves the selected WindowSet / Window / Function one position downwards, if it is not already the last. Note that the selection may change after this action!
Window Set Tree
The window set tree displays the hierarchy of all available window sets, windows and functions in a tree view.
Context Menus
The context menu depends on the selected item
Window Set Context Menu
Delete Window Set
Deletes the selected Window Set
Add Window Set
Adds a new Window Set
Copy this Window Set
Creates a deep copy of the selected window set and creates also copies of all contained windows and functions
Window Context Menu
Locked
Toggles the window locking (see Locking Windows)
Zoom to window
Zooms the current view to this window
Create copy
Creates a copy of the selected window including all functions. Copy will have the same name plus "_copy"
Delete function
Deletes the selected function from the window Note: only available if any function is already assigned
Add function
Adds the selected function to the window Note: only available if WindowSet is assigned to a channel and if not, already all available functions were assigned to the window
Window Boundary Controls
The window boundary controls allow a more exact positioning of the window than via mouse control. However, please note that due to hardware restrictions and internal rounding errors, the defined times and levels cannot be guaranteed to exactly fit to real life situation (e.g. setting a limit to exactly 10.000 V may have a small offset due to hardware ADC resolution)
Comment Editor
This window allows adding a comment for this window for reporting purposes
Property Editor
The upper part of the property editor allows detailed editing of the selected item (WindowSet / Window / Function) The lower part of the property editor shows context help for the selected property.
6.2.4WindowSet Editor
The WindowSet Editor is a graph view combined with a window editor overlay. It is used to preview channel data and configure window regions. The editor can show one channel including one window set simultaneously. Channel and/or window set change accordingly to the last selection in Channel Explorer or Window Explorer.
Toolbar Buttons
(from left to right)
Add window
Adds a new window with default size in the center of the visible area
Remove window
Removes the currently selected window
Remove all windows
Removes all windows of the currently displayed window set
Zoom (auto fit) (multiple modes)
Fit to all (auto)
Zooms automatically to a view where all windows and the complete measured signal are visible
Fit to window
Zooms to currently selected window (also available from Window Explorer)
Fit to window set
Zooms to a view where all windows of the current window set are visible, regardless to graph data dimensions
Fit to graph
Zooms to a view where the recorded data fits completely, even if not all windows are visible
Fit to hardware
Zooms to hardware capabilities (max sample buffer size and voltage range)
Zoom in
Zooms in by factor 2
Zoom out
Zooms out by factor 0.5
Show/Hide Cursor (toggle)
Shows or hides the graph cursor (only applicable if graph data exists)
Reset all view settings
The last zoom action is internally stored for each channel. This button removes all of these view settings and auto fit will be applied next time the channel is viewed.
Save screenshot
Creates a screenshot of the current view and saves it to a file. Note that this differs from a normal screenshot tool, as you can define the output resolution in Options / Report Settings.
Overlay plots (toggle)
Show data points
Visible plots slider
Zooming and moving the graph
The graph view can easily be moved and zoomed by the mouse while holding the shift / ctrl key. Note that the window editor pane must be already active.
Moving visible area
Hold the Ctrl key (mouse cursor will change to hand symbol), then drag the graph.
Zooming by selection
Hold the Shift key (mouse cursor will change to magnifying glass), then select a rectangle area with the mouse. After releasing the button, the graph will zoom to this selection.
Zooming by mouse wheel
Move the mouse wheel while holding the Shift key will zoom in/out by 20% per step around the current mouse position.
Zooming by buttons
Zooming is also possible using the zoom buttons of the toolbar. Refer to WindowSet Editor for details.
Resize Windows
Resizing windows is performed by clicking the window at its border or corner. This works even if the destination window is not selected or behind another overlaid window. A selection algorithm automatically selects the window whose border has the lowest distance to the cursor position! Windows can also be resized by using the numeric controls of Window Explorer.
Move Windows
Moving windows is performed by clicking the window in its center(!). This works even if the destination window is not selected or behind another overlaid window. A selection algorithm automatically selects the window which center has the lowest distance to the cursor position! Windows can also be moved by using the numeric controls of Window Explorer.
Context Menu
Right click a window to open the context menu:
The context menu provides some frequently used tasks for the currently selected window:
Lock
Click to toggle locked status
Zoom to window
Click to zoom around this window
Create copy
Creates a copy of this window including all functions and parameters at the current position, but with new unique Ids for window and functions.
Delete Window
Removes the window
Delete function
Removes an existing window function (if any defined)
Add function
Adds a window function. Note that no function will be displayed until the window set is applied to a channel (because the available functions are defined by the device)
Locking Windows
To avoid unintended editing of windows by mouse, each window can be protected against movement (=Locked).
To lock a window, use the window context menu and check the "Locked" option, or set the lock in the Window Explorer
Enabling / Disabling Windows
Enabling / Disabling a window can only be performed from Window Explorer. A disabled window remains in the configuration but will not perform any function. Disabled windows are displayed with a "bricked" fill:
Cursor
Cursors allow the user to select points on a plot and obtain coordinate information. An activated cursor will show up as orange cross over the complete graph and can be dragged along the currently active plot (if any). It is bound to the graph. Drag it either directly at the crossing or a single axis. An indicator at the crossing displays information about X and Y coordinates (time in ms and measurement value)
The cursors can be switched on / off using the toolbar button.
Creating Screenshots
Press the camera button to save a bitmap picture (PNG format) of the current view. The picture resolution can be configured in project settings.
Plot Overlays
Depending on the multi plot mode (overlay/single), the "Visible Plots" slider defines either how many captured periods of the signal are shown simultaneously or selects the current period, if more than one is recorded.
6.2.5Log
The log window is used to output system and progress messages and test result reports: Depending on the global setting "Source Query Mode", the "Source" column is either reported as resource specification or using the channel labels.
6.2.6Configuration Report
The Configuration report creates an HTML report of the current project configuration, including information about all
- Devices
- Available Functions
- Channels
- Trigger Settings
- Window Sets
- Windows
- Functions
To provide a better overview, many items are collapsed and hidden. Click on the [+] link in front of an item to expand the details tables. Click on [expand all] or [collapse all] to do this for all switchable content of the report.
You can also copy and paste the content to e.g. MS Word or Excel and also save and print the report.
6.2.7Window Set Data
The window set data editor provides a hierarchic tabular view of a single window set. Changing the selection will also update the content for the table below.
6.2.8Project Settings
Allows definition of project settings and attributes.
Source Query Mode
Defines the query method reference a source string in a result.
- Label: The custom defined labels for devices and channels are used.
- Resource: Internal resource names are used, labels will have no impact
6.2.9Options
This dialog configures application wide settings (per windows user!)
Application Settings
Max Plots
Specified maximum number of overlaid plots to avoid performance problems e.g. when inappropriate trigger settings are applied
Multi plot mode
Specifies how multiple periods of a recorded signal are displayed. "Overlay" shows (up to) all periods simultaneously, "Single" shows only one period, depending on the current position of the "Visible Plots" slider
Open last project at startup
If true, the last project is always loaded at startup. Otherwise the editor starts with an empty project.
Template Folder
Path to device templates. This path is usually set by the installation tool and doesn't need to be changed.
Plugins
DAQ Duration
Defines the recording time for all channels (preview functions).
DAQ Simulation Mode
If true, the data acquisition is simulated without hardware access.
DAQ Storage Path
Full path to temporary TDMS file for preview data
DAQ Timeout
Sets the maximum time allowed to fetch data to prevent application hang in case of hardware issues.
DAQ wait time
Defines the delay that is applied between activation of configuration and start of sampling. Set this value to match at least one period of your measurement signal, otherwise the window functions will contain no data for the first cycles (or report an error).
Report Settings
Picture Height
Picture height in pixels for report generator and screenshot tool.
Picture Width
Picture width in pixels for report generator and screenshot tool.