Tektronix Keithley VIEWDAC-What's New In Version 2.2 53206A User manual
VIEWDAC
WHAT'S NEW IN VERSION 2.2
New Contact Information
Keithley Instruments, Inc.
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Cleveland, OH 44139
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Fax: (440) 248-6168
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The information contained in this manual is believed to be accurate and reliable. However, Keithley
Instruments, Inc., assumes no responsibility for its use or for any infringements of patents or other rights
of third parties that may result from its use. No license is granted by implication or otherwise under any
patent rights of Keithley Instruments, Inc.
KEITHLEY INSTRUMENTS, INC., SHALL NO T BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENT AL,
OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES RELATED TO THE USE OF THIS PRODUCT. THIS
PRODUCT IS NOT DESIGNED WITH COMPONENTS OF A LEVEL OF RELIABILITY SUITED
FOR USE IN LIFE SUPPORT OR CRITICAL APPLICATIONS.
Refer to your Keithley Instruments license agreement and Conditions of Sale document for specific
warranty and liability information.
VIEWDA C is a registered trademark of K eithle y Instruments, Inc. MetraByte is a trademark of Keithle y
Instruments, Inc. All other brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their
respective companies.
© Copyright Keithley Instruments, Inc., 1994.
All rights reserved. Reproduction or adaptation of any part of this documentation beyond that permitted
by Section 117 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act without permission of the Copyright owner is
unlawful.
Keithley MetraByte Division
Keithley Instruments, Inc.
440 Myles Standish Blvd. Taunton, MA 02780
Telephone: (508) 880-3000
Revision A - April 1994
Part Number: 53206
FAX: (508) 880-0179
●
Preface
VIEWDAC - What’s New in Version 2.2 provides information about new
features in VIEWDAC 2.2, information about compatibility issues you
should keep in mind when upgrading from VIEWDAC 2.1 to
VIEWDA C 2.2, and information that was either missing from or incorrect
in the VIEWDAC Reference manual.
The document is intended for VIEWDAC application programmers who
are either new users of VIEWDAC or users upgrading from
VIEWDAC 2.1.
It is assumed that you are familiar with data acquisition principles, with
your particular application, with the computer you are using, and with the
features in VIEWDAC 2.1. It is also assumed that you are familiar with
standard windowing-type environments, including the use of a mouse, a
keyboard, pull-down and pop-up menus, dialog boxes, and the clipboard.
Refer to VIEWDAC - Getting Started for information about how the
windowing-type environment is used in VIEWDAC.
Wherever possible, this document uses the same format and terminology
as the VIEWDA C Reference manual. You should be familiar with both the
VIEWDA C Refer ence manual and VIEWDA C - Getting Started before you
read this document.
Overview of Contents
VIEWDAC - What’s New in Version 2.2 is organized as follows:
Overview of New Features provides a brief overview of the new
●
features in VIEWDAC 2.2.
vii
Compatibility with VIEWDAC 2.1 provides information to keep in
●
mind when upgrading from VIEWDAC 2.1 to VIEWDAC 2.2.
●
New Features provides detailed information about the new features
in VIEWDA C 2.2.
Software Enhancements describes software enhancements that are
●
provided in VIEWDAC 2.2.
●
Errata provides information that was either missing from or
incorrect in the VIEWDAC Reference manual.
An index completes this document.
Documentation Conventions
Keep the following conventions in mind as you use this document:
Information that you must type is shown in
●
example, to load the demonstration driver, enter
courier
typeface. For
DASDEMO
at the DOS
prompt. Unless otherwise specified, you can type characters in either
UPPERCASE or lowercase.
●
Variable information is shown in italics . For example, filename.ext
denotes that you should supply an appropriate file name and
extension.
●
Keyboard keys are denoted by square brackets surrounding the key's
label. For example, [Esc] is the escape key, [Del] is the delete key,
[F2] is the F2 function key, and so on.
If two keys are joined by a plus symbol, you should hold down the
●
first key while you press the second key. For example, [Ctrl]+[Break]
denotes that you should hold down [Ctrl] while you press [Break].
●
If two keys are separated by a space, you should press the keys
sequentially. For example, [F] [spacebar] denotes that you should
press and release [F] and then press and release [spacebar].
viii
●
A specific arrow key is denoted by the direction in which its arrow
points: [up arrow], [down arrow], [right arrow], and [left arrow].
The term "enter" indicates that you should press the specified key or
●
type the specified characters and then press [Enter] or [Return].
●
The terms "press" and "type" indicate that you should press the
specified key or type the specified characters without pressing
[Enter].
The term "click" indicates that you should either highlight an item or
●
initiate an action using the mouse. For example, to click on the OK
push button, move the mouse pointer to the OK push button and then
press the left mouse button.
The term "select" indicates that you should either highlight an item or
●
initiate an action using either the mouse or the keyboard. For
example, you can select the OK push button in a dialog box either by
clicking on OK or by using [Tab] to move to the OK push button and
then pressing [spacebar].
●
The term "menu" refers to pull-down menus. Pop-up menus are
always referred to as pop-up menus.
●
The forward slash (/) indicates an either/or selection. For example,
ON/OFF means the result is either on or off, but not both.
●
The back slash (\) denotes a sequence of menu selections. For
example, File\New\Text Edit denotes that you should first select the
File option from the menu bar, then select the New option from the
File menu, and then select the Text Edit option from the New menu.
ix
Related Documentation
Refer to the following documentation for more information about using
VIEWDAC:
VIEWDA C - Getting Started - This manual provides procedures for
●
installing and running VIEWDAC in your computer, an overview of
the navigational tools used to get around in the VIEWDAC
environment, an overview of VIEWDAC features, and information
about using the VIEWRUN run-time system.
Note:
VIEWDAC - Getting Started replaces the following
documents: VIEWDAC Roadmap , VIEWDAC Environment , Encore -
a quick reference to VIEWDAC , and VIEWRUN - The VIEWDAC
Run-Time System .
VIEWDA C Tutorials - This manual provides tutorials for using
●
VIEWDAC. Read this manual when you feel comfortable with
VIEWDAC's visual interface and are ready to begin learning to use
VIEWDAC's sequences. The first two chapters introduce sequences,
which are groups of tasks or actions; the remaining chapters provide
specialized information, including graphics, data processing,
interactive data analysis, curve fitting, and using macros.
●
VIEWDAC Reference - This manual includes definitions of
VIEWDAC concepts, descriptions of all features prior to
VIEWDAC 2.2, a glossary, and a comprehensive index. Use the
individual task category chapters to decide which tasks to choose and
how to set them up.
●
Read Me First brochure - This brochure contains warranty
information, a registration card, customer support information, and
the package serial number.
x
Documentation on disk - The following files are provided on disk:
●
– README.1ST - Includes last-minute VIEWDAC information.
– DEVICES.DOC - Contains a complete list of supported graphics
adapters.
– DEMOS.DOC - Describes the demonstration sequences
provided with VIEWDAC.
– BDE.DOC - Contains additional printer configuration
information.
– FILES.DOC - Contains a brief description of all files provided
with the VIEWDAC software package.
xi
Table of Contents
Preface
Overview of Contents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Documentation Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .viii
Related Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x
Overview of New Features
Compatibility with VIEWDAC 2.1
Configuration Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Binary Sequences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Converting Binary Sequences to ASCII Sequences . . . . . . . . . 4
Converting ASCII Sequences to Binary Sequences . . . . . . . . . 5
Macros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
New Features
Printing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Printer Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Printer Location. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Printer Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Color Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
White on Black/Black on White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Using Data Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Types of Data Sets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Specifying a Data Set Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Data Set Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Control Help Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Setting Up Control Relationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Describing Control Relationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
The Call Task . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Differences Between Using a Call Task and a Control List . . 25
Finding Sequences Required by the Call Task . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Adding a Call Task . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Using Call Tasks with Library Sequences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
The Array Display Task . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Adding an Array Display Task . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Setting the Style of the Array Display. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
iii
Software Enhancements
Window Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Scrolling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Removing Data Sets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Manipulating Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Modal Front Panels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Snap-to-Grid Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
PCX Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Types of PCX Files Supported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Number of PCX Files Supported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Strip Chart Task . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
D to A Task. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Event Counting Task . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Errata
Entering Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
String Data Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Array Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Color Mapping. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Saving Binary Sequences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Using PCX Files in Front Panels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Hide/Show Task . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Absolute Time Trigger Task. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Threshold Task. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Calc Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Numeric Operation Task . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Array Operation Task. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
String Operation Task. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Data I/O Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
DAS Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
A to D Task . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Thermocouple Task . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Counter/Timer Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Pulse Output Task. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Table Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Using an X Data Set in Analysis Operations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Rounding Numbers in Analysis Operations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Macros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
New Initialization File Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Initialization File Command Example. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Using Pre-emption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
iv
Interpreting Numeric Literals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Watcom C Compiler. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Task Scheduling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Index
List of Figures
Figure 1. Hardcopy Configuration Dialog Box. . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Figure 2. Elements of the printer.palette Data Set . . . . . . . . 10
Figure 3. Sequence Configuration Dialog Box. . . . . . . . . . . 17
Figure 4. Data Set Name Conflict Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Figure 5. Control Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Figure 6. Using a Control List. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Figure 7. Using a Call Task. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Figure 8. Call Task Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Figure 9. Array Display in Front Panel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Figure 10. Array Display Task Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Figure 11. Array Display Style Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Figure 12. Strip Chart Style Dialog Box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Figure 13. Scan Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Figure 14. Sample Rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Figure 15. Continuous Pulse Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Figure 16. One-Shot Pulse Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
List of Tables
Table 1. Elements of the printer.palette Data Set . . . . . . . . 11
Table 2. Action Performed when VIEWDAC Encounters a
Data Set with the Same Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Table 3. Names of Pasted and Duplicated Tasks. . . . . . . . . 44
Table 4. Number Bases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Table 5. New Initialization File Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Table 6. Where Data I/O Tasks are Performed . . . . . . . . . . 68
v
Overview of
New Features
VIEWDAC 2.2 provides the following new features:
●
Enhanced printing options - Many new printers, including several
color printers, are now supported. Screen colors are simulated more
closely in the printed image. You can select a printer resolution mode
to determine the size and level of detail of your printed image. Refer
to page 7 for more detailed information about the new printing
features.
Options when using data sets - You can select one of several data set
●
options that allow you to either reuse existing data sets in the system
or create new data sets when loading sequences. Refer to
page 14 for more detailed information about using data sets.
The new Control Help function - A Control Help box has been
●
added to the Control dialog box. The Control Help box helps you to
set up the control list for each task by allowing you to create an
English-like sentence that describes the control relationships. Refer to
page 20 for more detailed information about the Control Help
function.
The new Call task - The Call task is a new System task that is similar
●
to a subroutine in programming. The Call task allows you to use the
same set of tasks more than once in your VIEWDAC application.
Refer to page 24 for more detailed information about the Call task.
●
The new Array Display task - The Array Display task is a ne w Panel
task that allows you to display the current values of a numeric or
string array in an array display in a front panel. Refer to page 31 for
more detailed information about the Array Display task.
1
Note:
In addition to these new features, many minor software
enhancements are provided in VIEWDAC 2.2. Refer to page 41 for
information about these software enhancements.
2 Overview of New Features
This section contains compatibility issues to keep in mind when
upgrading from VIEWDAC 2.1 to VIEWDAC 2.2.
Configuration Files
Compatibility with
VIEWDAC 2.1
Configuration files created for VIEWDAC 2.1 are not compatible with
VIEWDAC 2.2. When you change configuration options in VIEWDAC
2.2 and select System\Save Options, the configuration options are saved
to a configuration file compatible with VIEWDAC 2.2; this file is called
VIEWDAC.CFG if you do not specify otherwise.
Note:
maintain both VIEWDAC 2.1 and VIEWDAC 2.2 initially. If you cannot
maintain both versions and must install VIEWDAC 2.2 in the directory
that contains your VIEWDAC 2.1 files, make sure that you delete your
old configuration files.
Refer to VIEWDAC - Getting Started for more information about
configuration files.
If you have sufficient hard disk space, it is recommended that you
3
Binary Sequences
VIEWDAC 2.2 will not open binary sequences (.BEQ) created with
VIEWDA C 2.1. If you want to use your VIEWD A C 2.1 binary sequences,
you must convert them to ASCII sequences (.SEQ) before using them in
VIEWDAC 2.2. Then, after you load VIEWDAC 2.2, you can convert the
VIEWDAC 2.1 ASCII sequences to VIEWDAC 2.2 binary sequences.
Refer to the following sections for more information.
Converting Binary Sequences to ASCII Sequences
To convert a VIEWDAC 2.1 binary sequence to a VIEWDAC 2.1 ASCII
sequence, perform the following steps:
1. Make a backup copy of all your VIEWDAC 2.1 sequences.
2. Start up VIEWDAC 2.1.
3. Select File\Open\Sequence to load the binary sequence you want to
convert.
4. Select File\Save As... and select the ASCII radio button in the File
Save As for Sequence dialog box to save the binary sequence as an
ASCII sequence.
Notes:
from BEQ to SEQ so that you can distinguish between the binary
sequence and the ASCII sequence.
Only scalar data (not array data) is saved with the ASCII sequence.
It is recommended that you change the sequence extension
4 Compatibility with VIEWDAC 2.1
Converting ASCII Sequences to Binary Sequences
To convert a VIEWDAC 2.1 ASCII sequence to a VIEWDAC 2.2 binary
sequence, perform the following steps:
1. Install VIEWDAC 2.2; refer to VIEWDAC - Getting Started for
information.
Macros
Note:
you maintain both VIEWD AC 2.1 and VIEWD A C 2.2 initially. If you
do, you can access your VIEWDAC 2.1 binary sequences at a later
time, if necessary.
2. Start up VIEWDAC 2.2.
3. Select File\Open\Sequence and load the ASCII sequence.
4. Select File\Save As... and select the Binary radio button in the File
Save As for Sequence dialog box to save the ASCII sequence as a
binary sequence.
Note:
from SEQ to BEQ so that you can distinguish between the ASCII
sequence and the binary sequence.
If you have sufficient hard disk space, it is recommended that
It is recommended that you change the sequence extension
You can load macros created in VIEWDAC 2.1 into VIEWDAC 2.2.
However, because the dialog boxes associated with the VIEWDAC 2.2
features may differ in screen position and size from the dialog boxes in
VIEWDAC 2.1, the macros may not perform in the same way . Therefore,
it is recommended that you do not reuse any macros created in
VIEWDAC 2.1.
5
6 Compatibility with VIEWDAC 2.1 7
Printing
New Features
This section contains detailed information about the new features in
VIEWDAC 2.2.
The following subsections describe changes to the way screen images are
printed in VIEWDAC 2.2.
Printer Support
VIEWDA C 2.2 supports man y additional printers, including se veral color
printers. The Hardcopy Configuration dialog box contains a list of all
supported printers. Select System\Hardcopy Config... to display the list.
In VIEWDAC 2.2, the list of printers in the Hardcopy Configuration
dialog box is shorter than the list in VIEWDAC 2.1; this is because
related printers have been combined into a single entry. For example,
VIEWDAC 2.1 lists seven printers in the Epson FX family;
VIEWDAC 2.2 has one entry, Epson FX Series. If you want to use a
printer that is not specifically included in the list, find a compatible printer
and select that printer instead. Refer to your printer documentation for
information on which of the printers listed in the Hardcopy Configuration
dialog box are compatible with the printer you are using.
Printer Location
In VIEWDAC 2.2, you must specify how your printer is connected to
your computer. When you select System\Hardcopy Config..., the
Hardcopy Configuration dialog box contains two Location radio buttons,
labeled Local and Network, as shown in Figure 1.
Resolution radio buttons
Figure 1. Hardcopy Configuration Dialog Box
Select the Local radio button if your printer is connected directly to your
computer; select the Network radio button if your printer is connected to
your computer through a network. The default setting is Local.
Note:
mode, you do not have to specify how the plotter/printer is connected to
your computer. If the hardcopy device specified in the Hardcopy
Configuration dialog box is a plotter, the Location radio buttons are
grayed.
Location radio buttons
If you are using either a plotter or a printer in plotter emulation
8 New Features
Printer Resolution
In VIEWD AC 2.2, you can specify a printer resolution mode to determine
the size and level of detail of your printed images. When you select
System\Hardcopy Config..., the Hardcopy Configuration dialog box
contains three Resolution radio buttons, labeled Low, Medium, and High.
Refer to Figure 1.
Select the appropriate resolution mode. Assuming that your printer
supports all three resolution modes, High resolution mode provides a
smaller and more detailed printed image than Medium or Low resolution
mode; Low resolution mode provides a larger and less detailed printed
image than Medium or High resolution mode. The specific size and level
of detail provided by each radio button depends on the printer you are
using. The default setting is High.
Color Printing
To save the resolution setting in your configuration file so that you do not
have to select it each time you run VIEWDAC, select System\Save
Options.
Notes:
than in Medium or Low resolution mode; therefore, it is recommended
that you use Low resolution mode for draft purposes and High or Medium
resolution mode for your final print.
If the Resolution radio button you select does not provide a printed image
that is suitable for your needs, you can adjust the X Scale and Y Scale
values in the Hardcopy Configuration dialog box appropriately. Howe ver,
if you change the scaling values, the printing process takes longer because
VIEWDAC requires additional time to scale the image and print the
additional points.
If you are using a color printer, the printer attempts to simulate
VIEWDAC colors as closely as possible. If the colors do not print as you
want them to, you can modify the colors by editing a character array,
printer.palette , which is one of the system data sets included in
VIEWDAC 2.2.
The printing process may take longer in High resolution mode
9
The printer.palette data set contains 48 elements; these elements define
the red, green, and blue color intensities of the 16 VIEWDAC screen
colors. Three elements are used to define each color; the first of the three
elements defines the red component, the second of the three elements
defines the green component, and the third of the three elements defines
the blue component. The first three elements of printer.palette define
VIEWDAC color #0 (black), the next three elements define VIEWDAC
color #1 (dark blue), and so on. Refer to Figure 2.
R G B R G B R G B
Element
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 2 3 4 5 6 46 47 48
Color #0 Color #1 Color #15
Figure 2. Elements of the printer.palette Data Set
The value of each element ranges from 0 to 15, where 15 specifies the
highest intensity of the color and 0 specifies none of the color. For
example, the default values for VIEWDAC color #4 (dark red) are R=10,
G=0, and B=0; this specifies 10/15ths of the maximum red, no green, and
no blue. The default values for VIEWDAC color #15 (white) are R=15,
G=15, and B=15; this specifies the maximum red, the maximum green,
and the maximum blue.
To modify a color, perform the following steps:
1. Select Window\Data List... to display the Data Set Select dialog box.
2. Select printer.palette from the list of data sets, and then select the
View push button.
VIEWDAC displays the Data View dialog box showing the
printer.palette data set. Index refers to the element in the data set.
10 New Features
3. Determine which elements of the data set define the color you want to
modify. Refer to Table 1 for a list of VIEWDAC colors, the elements
that define the red, green, and blue components of the color, and the
default value of each element (in parentheses). The color names listed
refer to colors found on typical EGA and VGA systems.
Table 1. Elements of the printer.palette Data Set
Element
Color Name
0 Black 1 (0) 2 (0) 3 (0)
1 Dark blue 4 (0) 5 (0) 6 (10)
2 Dark green 7 (0) 8 (10) 9 (0)
3 Dark cyan 10 (0) 11 (10) 12 (10)
4 Dark red 13 (10) 14 (0) 15 (0)
5 Dark purple 16 (10) 17 (0) 18 (10)
6 Brown 19 (10) 20 (5) 21 (0)
7 Light gray 22 (10) 23 (10) 24 (10)
8 Dark gray 25 (5) 26 (5) 27 (5)
9 Light blue 28 (0) 29 (0) 30 (15)
10 Light green 31 (0) 32 (15) 33 (0)
11 Light cyan 34 (0) 35 (15) 36 (15)
12 Light red 37 (15) 38 (0) 39 (0)
13 Light purple 40 (15) 41 (0) 42 (15)
14 Yellow 43 (15) 44 (15) 45 (0)
Red Green Blue
15 White 46 (15) 47 (15) 48 (15)
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4. In the printer.palette data set, select a value you want to change,
enter the new value (between 0 and 15), and press [Tab].
For example, assume that you want to make color #1 (dark blue) a
little less blue. You can reduce the intensity of the blue component by
changing the value of element 6 from 10 to 5.
Note:
Make sure that you enter a value between 0 and 15. If you
enter any other value, the results will be unpredictable.
5. Continue until you have finished changing all the necessary values,
and then select the OK push button or press [Enter].
6. From the Data Set Select dialog box, select the OK push button or
press [Enter].
7. To save the new settings in your configuration file so that you do not
have to enter them every time you run VIEWDAC, select
System\Save Options.
Notes:
If you are using a printer that does not use RGB as the color
model, VIEWD A C automatically maps the RGB palette to the appropriate
color model for the printer you are using.
Any color mapping you specify in the Color Mapping table in the
Hardcopy Configuration dialog box is applied before the color palette in
the printer.palette data set is applied.
The effects of the changes you make to printer.palette vary depending on
such things as the way your printer uses colors, the color cartridge you are
using, the resolution of your printer, and the way your printer handles
dithering. You may have to try several different combinations of values in
printer.palette to find the best match to the color you want.
12 New Features
13
Note:
Dithering is a technique used by most color printers to simulate
many more colors than they can actually print directly. For example,
assume that your color printer uses a cartridge that contains the three base
colors cyan, yellow, and magenta. To simulate additional colors, the
printer prints small dots of the base colors next to each other in a
particular pattern. When you look at the pattern, the dots merge together
and appear as a different color.
White on Black/Black on White
In VIEWDAC 2.2, if monochrome printing is selected (Mono radio
button in the Hardcopy Configuration dialog box), the White on
Black/Black on White radio buttons work exactly as they do in
VIEWDAC 2.1. Refer to the VIEWDAC Reference manual for more
information.
In VIEWDAC 2.2, if color printing is selected (Color radio button in the
Hardcopy Configuration dialog box), the quality of the printed image is
improved. The White on Black/Black on White radio buttons work as
follows:
White on Black - VIEWDAC 2.2 tries to simulate the screen image
●
colors as closely as possible. For example, if a graphics window on
the screen has a yellow sine wave on a blue background, the printed
image also has a yellow sine wave on a blue background; the colors
are not reversed as they are in VIEWDAC 2.1.
●
Black on White - The background color is always printed as white.
All non-background colors (except white) are printed as they appear
on the screen; anything that is white on the screen is printed in the
background color. For example, if a graphics window on the screen
has a yellow sine wave and a white cosine wave on a blue
background, the printed image has a yellow sine wave and a blue
cosine wave on a white background.
Note:
determined by the setting of the Screen Background Back input box
in the System Configuration dialog box (displayed by selecting
System\Config... from the menu bar). Depending on the pen color and
pattern selected, the background color actually seen on the screen
may differ from the background color selected. For example, the
default screen background color is white (color 15); howev er , because
of the default pattern, the background appears as dark cyan (color 3).
Since the background color is white, printing the entire screen does
not reverse any colors.
Using Data Sets
When you save a sequence, information about any data sets used by the
sequence is saved with the sequence. (Only scalar data (not array data) is
saved with ASCII sequences; both scalar and array data are saved with
binary sequences.) Until you exit from VIEWDAC, the data sets are also
available in the system. When you reopen a saved sequence or open
another copy of a saved sequence, VIEWDAC encounters two data sets
with the same name.
When printing the entire screen, the background color is
In VIEWDAC 2.2, you can specify one of the following data set options
to determine what VIEWD A C should do when you open a sa ved sequence
and a data set with the same name is available in the system:
●
Allow you to decide on a case-by-case basis whether to reuse the data
set or create a new data set with a different name (rename the data
set).
●
Always rename the data set.
Reuse the data set in the system, if possible; if the data set cannot be
●
reused, rename the data set automatically.
●
Reuse the data set in the system, if possible; if the data set cannot be
reused, allow you to rename the data set manually.
14 New Features
Reusing a data set is useful when you are developing a sequence and are
opening and closing the sequence often; in this case, you probably want
to use the same data set each time you edit the sequence. You may also
want to reuse a data set when you pass data between sequences, as when a
Call task starts a Block task in another sequence; refer to page 24 for
information about the Call task. Renaming a data set is useful if you want
to copy a sequence or if you want to load a sequence more than once with
a separate data set for each sequence.
Note:
specify a data set option for graphics windows and table editor windows.
For more detailed information about data set options, refer to page 18.
Types of Data Sets
VIEWDAC supports user-defined, autocreated, and system data sets.
These three different types of data sets are defined as follows:
●
User-defined data sets - You create user-defined data sets when you
select the New push button in the Data Set Select dialog box.
VIEWDAC considers two user-defined data sets with the same name,
size, and type as identical user-defined data sets; you can reuse
identical user-defined data sets. VIEWDAC considers two
user-defined data sets with the same name, but with different sizes
and/or types as different user-defined data sets; you cannot reuse
different user-defined data sets.
Note:
in the data set are the values that are currently in memory, not the
values saved with the sequence. Therefore, if you are reusing
identical user-defined data sets and your sequence requires
predictable initial values, it is recommended that your sequence
initialize the data set values.
You can specify a data set option for sequences only; you cannot
When you reuse an identical user-defined data set, the values
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