PostView

User's Guide..

Post Data Acquisition Analysis Application

PostView
Post Data Acquisition
Analysis Application
p/n 457-0916 Rev. 1.0

PostView User’s Guide

9072931Measurement Computing
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Norton, MA 02766(508) 946-5100
Fax: (508) 946-9500
info@mccdaq.com

www.mccdaq.com

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PostView User’s GuidePostView
Overview …… 1
System Requirements …… 4
Installation ……4
Layout and Controls …… 5
Understanding the Status Bar …… 8
Changing Display Parameters …… 9Overview
PostView is a time-domain post-acquisition data viewing application that can be integrated with primary dataacquisition software, including DaqView, Personal DaqView, ChartView, LogView, and WaveView. The viewer
provides a means of setting up several display pages, each with one or more scopes and single or multiple channels
to view as Analog, Counts, or Logic traces (with one type per scope). You can set up PostView to run from yourdata acquisition program’s ViewData button. Configuration instructions follow shortly.
Note that you cannot mix channel types within a scope. Attempting to do so will result in a message stating, forexample, Only Analog Channels can be added to an Analog Scope.
The PostView Concept(1) Data acquisition device, such as a WaveBook, LogBook, DaqBook, or ChartScan unit.
(2) PC with data acquisition software, e.g., WaveView, LogView, DaqView, ChartView
PostView can set to start from their ViewData button.
(3) A disk of data files (raw binary)… or, simply data files stored in the PC.
(4) A PC with PostView installed. PostView can be used to view acquisition
data from files on the PC’s hard drive or from a disk.

The PostView application provides easy-to-use post-acquisition analysis capability. Depending on the version used,
you can display up to 8 time-domain function windows and display up to 16 channel traces per window. Data is
automatically scaled to optimize its fit in the window. Features of the program include:
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PostView User’s Guide

File Input Format Support for: DaqView, WaveView, Personal DaqView, ChartView, DaqCOM2
Up to 8 Display Windows
16 Channel Traces per Display Window
Automatic Data Scaling
Configurable Data Display for channels and trace colorsMultiple Tiling of display windows

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System Requirements
Your computer should meet the following minimum requirements.
Intel™, Pentium 90 MHz or equivalent
64 MB Memory
100 MB Hard Disk space
Monitor: SVGA, 800 x 600 resolution
Microsoft® Windows® XP
If you purchased software, associated authorization codes will accompany yourinstallation CD. If this is the case, keep your codes in a safe place. You will need to enter
them once, during an actual run of the purchased software.
No authorization code or password is needed to run PostView at its base level.

Installation
Before installing a version of our data-acquisition software, remove allprevious versions of that software.
Reference Notes:• Adobe Acrobat PDF versions of documents pertaining to your system hardware andsoftware are automatically installed onto your PC’s hard-drive as a part of productsupport at the time of software installation. The default location is the Programsgroup, which can be accessed via the Windows Desktop Start Menu.
•PDF versions of documents can be read directly from the data acquisition CD.

•After your software is installed you can setup your data acquisition device, e.g.,
WaveBook, DaqBook, LogBook, and connect it to the host computer. Instructions
for hardware setup are included in your device user’s manual, which is included onthe CD.

When you first install software for your acquisition device, PostView will automatically be selected for installation
along with the primary acquisition software application. For example, when a WaveBook is selected, both
WaveView and PostView will show as pre-selected software options.
To install PostView …
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4

Start Windows.
Close all running applications.
Insert the Data Acquisition CD into your CD-ROM drive and wait for the CD to auto-run.
If the CD does not start on its own:(a)click the desktop’s <Start> button(b)choose the Run command(c)
select the CD-ROM drive, then select the setup.exe file(d)click <OK>
An Opening Screen will appear.
Click the <ENTER SETUP> button.
On the hardware selection screen [which follows a licensing agreement], select your hardware fromthe drop-down list.
On the resulting software options screen, select the software that is applicable to your system.
Note that PostView is already selected by default.
Click the <Install> button; then follow the screen prompts to complete the installation.

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PostView User’s GuideLayout and Controls

Window Layout
PostView’s main window includes File and Edit pull-down menus, a scan list, display page panel, scroll bar, and astatus bar. You can drag channels from the scan list to the display page, or “right-click” on a channel in the scan list
and use a “move to” function. The following sections will clarify the layout and the functionality of PostView.

Primary Toolbar
The primary toolbar is comprised of buttons which impact all displays. A description of each of these buttons
follows. In addition, each display includes its own toolbar. This secondary toolbar will be discussed shortly.
Primary Toolbar
Secondary (Display) Toolbar(A) Move Channels(Drag over)(B) Move Channels(right-click)Note: (A) Drag Channels from the Scan List to the Display Page, or(B) right-click on a channel and use the “move to” feature.

PostView User’s Guide

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Primary Toolbar

Item #Item

Description

1

Gridlines On/OffSwitches grid lines from On to Off or visa versa.

2Cursors

The Cursor button switches the cursor(s) from On to Off or visa-versa. Clicking theadjacent down-arrow displays a pull-down list of the following cursor options:Cursors On/Off - Switches the cursor(s) from On to Off or visa-versa.
Delta On/Off -Turns the Delta annotation function ON or OFF when in Dual Cursor
Mode.
Single Cursor - Implements Single Cursor Mode.
Dual Cursor - Implements Dual Cursor mode.

3

Add Scope Display
Clicking the button adds an Analog Scope in Raw Time mode.
Clicking the adjacent down-arrow displays a pull-down list of 3
display options [Analog, Counts, and Logic].
Moving the cursor over “Analog” displays the analog options ofRaw Time and Averaged Time.

4Delete Scope Display
Clicking the button deletes the selected display. If no display is selected, thenthe last display to have been added [to that display page] will be deleted.
Clicking the adjacent down-arrow lists all displays for the current display page
(see figure). Clicking on one of the listed displays will delete it.

56Add Display Page

Adds a blank page and labels it via an associated tab, e.g., Display Page 2,Display Page 3, etc.

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PostView User’s Guide

Secondary (Display) Toolbars
Each Scope Display has its own toolbar, which is illustrated in the previous and following figures.
Secondary (Display) Toolbar Items

Item #Item

Description

1

SelectUsed to select and reposition cursors.

2

Zoom-BoxThe Zoom-Box function allows you to draw a box around an area that you desire to zoom-in
on. This results in new x and y coordinates for the scope display.

3Zoom-In

Each click of the plus-magnifier image results in a zoom-in.

4Zoom-Out

Each click of the minus-magnifier image results in a zoom-out.

5

Zoom-In on Cursor

Zooms in to the area around the cursor.

6

Auto-Scale X-Axis

Automatically adjusts the X-axis.

7

Auto-Scale Y-Axis

Automatically adjusts the Y-axis.

8

Axis Scroll

Allows simultaneous scrolling of both axes.

9Axes Zoom

After clicking “Axes Zoom” you can click in one of three areas of a scope display to zoom inor out on the: y-axis, x-axis, or both (when you click within the display region, instead of x ory specifically).
x-axis: click and drag “right” to zoom-out; “left” to zoom-in.
y-axis: click and drag “up” to zoom-out; “down” to zoom-in.
x-axis and y-axis simultaneously: right and/or up to zoom-out; left and/or down to zoom-in.

10

Lock Axes

When pushed-in, the lock axes function overrides auto and manual scaling. This keeps thecurrent X and Y-axis locked-in-place when new acquisitions begin.
When Lock Axes is inactive, auto and manual-scaling function normally.

11Print Preview

Opens a Print Preview window which allows you to view and print the display.

12PrintPrints the display.

13

Save Plot as

A Windows-type save feature in regard to where to save, naming the file, and selecting thefile type (.bmp, .gif., .jpg. .dat, etc.)

14

Edit Display

Accesses the Options Dialog Box for changing display preferences. (See pgs. 4 and 5)

Pull-Down Menus
File Menu
New
Used to reset and close all displays.
Open File …
Used to locate and open saved files for View applications, e.g., WaveView, DaqView, Personal DaqView,LogView, ChartView, and DaqCOM2.
File extensions are as follows:.IO$ ChartView.DC2 DaqCOM2.dsc
WaveView, DaqView, Personal DaqView, and LogView
Exit
This menu item closes the PostView application.

PostView User’s Guide

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Edit Menu
Display
Clicking “Display” brings up an Options dialog box for viewing or changing the display preferences.
This is discussed in the following section.

The Display Scroll Bar
A slide-type scroll bar resides just below the display. Use the slide to move through the data.

Understanding the Status BarA status bar at the bottom of the display page shows numerical data for any one selected channel of asingle display. Data such as Time and amplitude Value are in reference to cursor position on the display. If
two cursors are employed, data is in reference to the last cursor moved.
Note: Certain labels applicable to a display’s status bar will not be visible until after the first calculation ismade.

Status Bar – Example

Analog Scope

Time and Value for thecursor last moved.

Delta Value (difference between the 2 cursor)
Time and Value for the second cursor

Select the desiredchannel from thisregion.
Channel 4 iscurrently selected.
The cursor last-moved indicates avalue of -0.1738 V at 0.110168
seconds for Channel 4.

Time: The time value (from the x-axis) for the position of the cursor last moved.
Value: The amplitude (from the y-axis) of the selected channel at the cursor position.
Avg.: The average value for all data points of the selected channel.
Min: The largest negative value reached by the selected channel.
Max: The highest value reached by the selected channel.

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PostView User’s Guide

Changing Display Parameters
To make a global change to the appearance of the scope displays, i.e., changes which affect every scope on
every display page, select “Display” from the Scope window’s Edit pull-down menu. An Options dialog
box will appear with the “Display Preferences” tab dominant (following figure). A second way to accessthe Display Preferences tab is to click the <Edit Display> button for a scope (button15); then after theOptions Dialog Box opens, click on the Display Preferences tab.

Options, Display Preferences TabFrom the dialog box you can change the colors of channel traces, grid lines, and the display backgroundcolor. You can also:oChange line styles: Solid, Dots, Dashes, Dash Dot, Dash Dot DotoDisplay or discard partial acquisition data upon the acquisition’s stopoChange the cursor color

oSelect to automatically match the cursor color to the trace color

Remember that the changes made from the Display Preferences tab are global changes, i.e., they will beapplied to every display on every display page.
To change the parameters for a specific display, and leave the other displays as currently configured,simply click on the tab associated with the display for which you want to change parameters.

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You can change the parameters of an individual display in regard to:oGraph Title
You can enter (or edit) a title for the display and select to show the title on the display via acheckbox. The title color can be changed.

oScale factor (Auto-scale or Manual Scale)
When Manual Scale is used the values entered for minimum and maximum apply. These are theminimum and maximum Y-axis values. The units are the displayed channels’ engineering units.

oLimits
These limits are for display purpose only. They have no relation to acquisition
limits which are used as triggers.
You can set an upper and/or lower limit for display and change the color of these display limits.
If you select to use a limit [by checking the associated box] then traces that exceed the limit value
will become noticeably thicker.
You can display the upper and lower limit lines, regardless of whether or not you decide to use thetrace-thickening feature, and visa versa.

oData Processing
A Data Processing Panel with a single tab labeled “General” is located at the lower section ofthe dialog box. The panel allows you to select the Axis Scale Type (linear or log) and also allows
you to select Scans per block. This last setting designates how many data points will be
displayed in a single viewing instance. For example, if “20” was entered, you would see 20 data
points on the screen; and each time you used the scroll bar you would see 20 points of data
displayed.

Options Dialog Box10908893

PostView User’s Guide