Tektronix OpenChoice Solutions User manual
Basic Concepts
Getting Started with
OpenChoicet Solutions
071-1304-01
www.tektronix.com
Copyright © Tektroni x. All rights reserved. Licensed software products are owned by Tektronix or its subsidiaries or
suppliers, and are protected by national copyright laws and international treaty provisions.
Tektronix products are covered by U.S. a nd forei gn patents, issued and pending. Information in this publication supercedes
that in all previously published material. Specifications and price change privileges reserved.
TEKTRONIX and TEK are registered trademarks of Tektronix, Inc.
Mathcad is a registered trademark of MathSoft, Inc.
MATLAB is a registered trademark of The MathWorks, Inc.
ActiveX, Visual Basic, Visual C++, and Visual Studio are either registered trademarks or trademarks
of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.
LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI are trademarks of National Instruments Corporation.
Tektronix, Tek, TekVISA, and OpenChoice are registered trademarks of Tektronix, Inc.
VEKTREX is a trademark of VEKTREX Electronic Systems, Inc.
NOTE: Software on the CD is provided AS IS with no warranties of any kind, specifically excluding WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Tektronix, Inc. assumes no liability of any kind for
your use of this software.
Contacting Tektronix
Tektronix, Inc.
14200 SW Karl Braun Drive
P.O. Box 500
Beaverton, OR 97077
USA
For product information, sales, service, and technical support:
H In North America, call 1-800-833-9200.
H Worldwide, visit www.tektronix.com to find contacts in your area.
What are OpenChoice Solutions and Why Use Them?
OpenChoice Solutions are software resources that provide enhanced data
analysis and networking abilities for your Tektronix instruments. These resources
include software libraries, utilities, samples, and industry-standard protocols.
They are included with your Tektronix oscilloscope.
OpenChoice Solutions enable you to run, directly on your Tektronix oscilloscope, both off-the-shelf and custom-written software. They enable you to
communicate with your Tektronix oscilloscope over a network, using numerous
connectivity protocols and physical interfaces, such as GPIB, USB, Ethernet,
RS-232, and shared memory. OpenChoice resources provide you with a high
degree of flexibility to automate data acquisition, measurement, and analysis.
Examples of OpenChoice software include:
H The Tektronix Toolbar for Microsoft Excel (TekXL),
which allows you to capture and graph oscilloscope data in MS Excel
spreadsheets
H The Tektronix Toolbar for Microsoft Word (TekW),
which allows you to capture and graph oscilloscope data in MS Word
documents
H The Tektronix OpenChoice Desktop(OCD) is an oscilloscope to PC
communication tool, which allows you to capture oscilloscope screen
images, waveform data, and settings from a Windows-based computer
Other OpenChoice resources support industry standard programming interfaces,
including the TekVISA API, VXIplug&play drivers, TekVISA Control (TVC)
ActiveX and Interchangeable Virtual Instruments (IVI) drivers, allowing you to
build custom solutions with commercially-available development tools and
environments. Later sections of this article provide more information about
programming interfaces and tools.
Different OpenChoice resources are available for current TDS1000, TDS2000,
TDS2000B, TDS3000B, DPO4000, TDS5000, TDS6000, TDS/CSA7000,
DPO7000, DP O/ DS A70000 and TDS /DS A/CS A8000 seri es oscilloscopes.
Getting Started in OpenChoice Solutions
1
What are OpenChoice Solutiosn and Why Use Them?
Table 1 highlights specific TDS oscilloscope series, specific OpenChoice
components mentioned in this article that they work with, and the mode of
delivery.
Table 1: OpenChoice Components and Compatible TDS Oscilloscopes
Component
IVI Drivers IVI-C drivers IVI-COM drivers IVC drivers can be down-
TekV IS A n n n
VXIplug&play n n n
Compatible with
TDS1000,
TDS2000,
TDS2000B,
TDS3000,
DPO4000
Compatible with
TDS5000, 6000,
TDS/CSA7000/
D P O 7000/ D P O /DSA
70000
Downloadable from
www.tek.com
(keyword: openchoice,
SDK)
loaded from www.ni.com.
Keywords are ’tktds1k2k’,
’tktds3k’, ’tkdpo4k’
Software
Developer’s Kit
(SDK)
TekXL Toolbar n n n with TekVISA
TekW Toolbar n n n with TekVISA
National
Instruments
LabVIEW
MathWorks
MATLAB
Microsoft Visual
BasicR, Visual
C++R
n n n
n n n
n n n
n n n
2
Getting Started in OpenChoice Solutions
Choosing OpenChoice Tools
OpenChoice tools provide you with a multitude of choices and options. To help
you navigate through the alternatives and features, this article introduces some of
the key features and facilities provided.
OpenChoice tools support both off-the-shelf software applications, which you
can run as is, and custom software applications, which you design and code
yourself.
Using Off -the-Shelf Software Programs
Off-the-shelf software programs can solve your needs with only limited
programming or training required. As such, they often can provide a lower cost
solution than can software you write yourself. Tektronix provides several
off-the-shelf software programs based on the Microsoft Office suite. These
include the Tektronix Excel Toolbar, which copies your oscilloscope data into an
MS Excel spreadsheet, and the Tektronix Word Toolbar, which copies your data
into an MS Word document. Still another off-the-shelf software package is the
OpenChoice Desktop, which lets you capture oscilloscope screen images,
waveform data and instrument settings.
Microsoft Office Solutions
Availability of off-the-shelf software continues to expand as Tektronix and third
party developers add products to the OpenChoice collection.
Using the Tektronix Toolbar for Excel, a Microsoft Excel plug-in, you can
dynamically import data into a spreadsheet as your Tektronix oscilloscope
acquires it. The analysis capabilities of MS Excel can solve many oscilloscope
data analysis requirements. Excel sits on the line between being a true off-theshelf solution and being a programming environment. It provides many
opportunities to program. However, compared to most pure programming
languages, Excel is easier t o learn to use — you may even be familiar with it
already. As the concept of the spreadsheet is relatively easy to grasp, you can
concentrate more on your problems and less on developing software.
Advantages of Excel include:
H Widespread availability
H Relatively low cost
H Good basic graphing
Getting Started in OpenChoice Solutions
3
Choosing OpenChoice Tools
H Widespread format compatibility
H Relatively easy “what if” analyses where you can tweak the assumptions or
output
Table 2 on page 5 provides more details on this toolbar.
Using the Tektronix Toolbar for Word, a Microsoft Word plug-in, you can
dynamically import data into a Word document, as the data i s produced by a
Tektronix oscilloscope. Table 3 on page 7 provides more details on this toolbar.
Other off-the-shelf oscilloscope software programs from Tektronix include:
Wavestar Software
Tektronix Application
Software Options
The Tektronix Toolbar for
Excel (TekXL)
This Microsoft Windows 2000/NT/XP application bri ngs Tektronix
oscilloscope measurement i nformation to your PC desktop.
Application modules allow you to transform a Tektronix oscilloscope into a
specialized analysis tool able to perform advanced jitter and timing analysis,
10/100/1000BaseT validation, microprocessor memory system verification,
communications standards testing, disk drive measurements, video measurements, and power measurements.
While these programs are widely used for oscilloscope solutions, sometimes an
off-the-shelf program will not meet your needs. It may not meet engineering
needs for unique problem requirement situations or strategic needs to maintain
control of the software implementation. For many problems, a program you
write yourself may be the best choice.
This toolbar, an add-in to Microsoft Excel, lets you capture and graph oscilloscope data in Microsoft Excel 2000, 2002, and 2003 spreadsheet s.
4
Getting Started in OpenChoice Solutions
Table 2: The Tektronix Toolbar for Excel
The Tektronix Toolbar for Excel, as shown to the right, appears
inside your Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. T o operate, click on the
appropriate toolbar button. Use the resulting dialog box to make
selections for the type of waveform and measurement data that
you want to capture and automatically paste into Excel.
Choosing OpenChoice Tools
Clicking the connection button displays all available
instruments, including remote instruments that have been
connected.
Clicking the waveform button displays data and graphs the waveform, as shown below.
Clicking the settings button displays and transfers settings
between the oscilloscope and your computer.
Getting Started in OpenChoice Solutions
5
Choosing OpenChoice Tools
Table 2: The Tektronix Toolbar for Excel (Cont.)
Clicking on the measurements button captures and displays single and repeated timed measurements.
Clicking on the triggered captures button captures and displays waveform data and waveform measurements on a trigger.
6
Getting Started in OpenChoice Solutions
Choosing OpenChoice Tools
The Tektronix Toolbar for
Word (TekW)
The Tektronix Toolbar for Word, an add-in to Microsoft Word, lets you capture
and graph oscilloscope data in Microsoft Word 2000, 2002, and 2003 documents.
Table 3: The Tektronix Toolbar for Word
The Tektronix Toolbar for Word, as shown to the right, appears
inside your Microsoft word document. To operate, click on the
appropriate toolbar button. Use the resulting dialog box to make
selections for the type of waveform and measurement data that
you want to capture and automatically paste into Word.
Clicking the connection button displays all available
instruments, including remote instruments that have been
connected.
Clicking the settings button displays and transfers settings
between the oscilloscope and your computer.
The Tektronix OpenChoice
Desktop(OCD)
The Tektronix OpenChoice Desktop lets you select the instrument and capture
oscilloscope screen images, waveform data, and settings from a windows-based
computer.
Screen Capture allows you to capture the current screen display from the
selected instrument and graph it on the application.
Waveform Data Capture allows you to acquire the selected waveform or
waveforms in numerical forms and as graphs.
Get and Send Settings allows you to capture and get display settings from the
selected instrument. It also allows you to send the current instrument settings to
the selected instrument or to multiple instruments.
Getting Started in OpenChoice Solutions
7
Choosing OpenChoice Tools
Figure 1: Tektronix OpenChoice Desktop
8
Getting Started in OpenChoice Solutions
Writing OpenChoice Software
Designing and implementing your own software program using the OpenChoice
tools allows you to tackle problems that off-the-shelf software does not address.
Tektronix oscilloscopes support a variety of industry-standard, OpenChoice
compatible programming environments and programmatic interfaces to help you
write your own software program.
Choosing a Development Environment
Examples of development environments in which t o design and implement
custom software programs include National Instruments LabVIEW, The
MathWorks MATLAB, Microsoft Visual C++, Visual Basic, and VisualStudio.NET.
LabVIEW and Visual Basic are examples of visual software development
environments that permit relatively rapid development of t he applications.
MATLAB and C/C++ are examples of software development environments that
provide powerful problem-solving features.
You should choose your development environments for each application with
care. Consider not only the intrinsic strengths of each environment, but also your
existing knowledge and access to each tool. The next section of this article
describes some of the alternatives and trade--offs that might influence your
choices of development environments from the large set of those available with
OpenChoice.
Table 4 lists some benefits of each of these development environment.
Table 4: Benefits of Different Development Environments
Development tool Benefits
LabVIEW H Graphical widgets and icons
MATLAB H Mathematical analysis and simulation capabilities
Getting Started in OpenChoice Solutions
H Comprehensive libraries for data collection, presentation,
and storage
H Relatively easy to learn
H Toolboxes for real-time control, signal processing, and
statistics
H C-style programming
H Multiple-platform, multiple OS support
9
Writing OpenChoice Software
Table 4: Benefits of Different Development Environments (Cont.)
Development tool Benefits
Visual Basic H Custom user interfaces, read/write files, and plot results
that are easier to develop than in many other languages
H A quicker learning curve than many other languages
H A relatively low cost in materials and training to begin using
Visual C/C++ H Faster runtime execution speed than other languages
(especially C)
H Ability to implement complex algorithms
H Availability of numerous specialized code libraries
H Availability of numerous engineers who know how to
program C
H Object orientation in C++, which can permit faster
development, especially with complex application
interactions
Choosing a Programming Interface
After you decide which programming environment to use, you need to decide
which programming interface to use. A programming interface is the software
layer between the code that programmers write in the programming environment
and the actual hardware. Tektronix provides several programming interfaces.
Tektronix programming interfaces include:
H TekVISA API: a ‘C’ library/DLL, which allows you to send and receive
ASCII commands using C function calls
H VXIplug&play drivers: a ‘C’ library/DLL
H IVI drivers: a COM-based interface, which uses the IVI standard
H TekVISA ActiveX Control (TVC)
How to Choose an
Interface
You may choose an interface because you find it much easier to use in specific
programming environments than others. For example, you may find it relatively
easy to use TekVISA ActiveX Controls (TVC) with Visual Basic.
H Support on multiple platforms and operating systems
(Windows, Macintosh, UNIX)
10
You may choose some interfaces based on your level of comfort with the
oscilloscope-specific command set. For example, when you program the
instrument using the TekVISA API library, you will send the ASCII commands
Getting Started in OpenChoice Solutions
Writing OpenChoice Software
used in an oscilloscope-specific environment. Thus, it will help if you are
already familiar with this command set. Other interfaces do not require you to
understand the details of this command set.
All Tektronix open Windows oscilloscopes come with these programming
interfaces and associated documentation on the oscilloscope.
Also, you can directly program the oscilloscope using commands specific to
each model oscilloscope. All Tektronix open Windows oscilloscopes come with
documentation describing commands specific to that model. Frequently, this
documentation comes in MS-Windows online help and electronic PDF format.
Figure 2 on page 12 shows the relationship between these different programming
interfaces. Users can write programs in a variety of languages and use one of the
programming interfaces. All the other interfaces are built on top of the TekVISA
API, which provides t he foundation for connectivity to the instrument. The
TekVISA API sends device-specific commands over USB, GPIB or LAN.
Getting Started in OpenChoice Solutions
11
Writing OpenChoice Software
C, C++
C, C++
Program
Program
Application Development Environments (ADE)
Visual Basic
Visual Basic
Program
Program
LabVIEW and
LabVIEW and
LabWindows
LabWindows
MATLAB
MATLAB
Virtual GPIB
(GPIB8)
IVI--COM
GPIB
(GPIB0--GPIB3)
VXIplug &
play
TekVISA Input/Output Library API
ASRL
(RS232 COM1,
COM2)
Test and Measurement Instruments
Test and Measurement Instruments
LAN
(VXI--11
Protocol)
TVC
Tek L i n kUSB
Figure 2: The relationship between programming interfaces
Figure 3 on page 13 shows some of the tradeoffs between these interfaces. The
vertical represents portability of a program across different Tektronix oscilloscope models and the horizontal axis represents the abstraction or level of
commands provided by the interface.
12
Getting Started in OpenChoice Solutions
Loading...