Tektronix Visual Test Extensions Users Guide

Visual Test Extensions

USER’S GUIDE



Visual Test Extensions

User’s Guide

Revision C - June 1996

Part Number: 81580

New Contact Information

Keithley Instruments, Inc.

28775 Aurora Road

Cleveland, OH 44139

Technical Support: 1-888-KEITHLEY

Monday – Friday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m (EST)

Fax: (440) 248-6168

Visit our website at http://www.keithley.com

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 SUITABLE FOR USE IN LIFE SUPPORT OR CRITICAL APPLICATIONS.

Refer to your Keithley Instruments license agreement for speciﬁc warranty and liability information.

MetraByte, Visual Test Extensions, and VTX are trademarks of Keithley Instruments, Inc. All other brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

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

FAX: (508) 880-0179

Telephone: (508) 880-3000

●

Introducing VTX

Visual Test Extensions that enable you to create high-performance data acquisition, analysis, and graphing applications within the Microsoft programming environment. VTX software tools include an integrated set of custom controls. By using VTX software with Visual Basic, you can

Build high-performance Windows measurement systems quickly and

●

easily .

●

Integrate data acquisition, counter/timer, analysis, data display, logic, and graphing functions in the same application.

Incorporate any third-party products designed for the Visual Basic

●

environment in your application.

●

Create simple applications using graphical programming or complex applications using graphical and code-based programming.

Overview of this Guide

The Visual Test Extensions User’s Guide introduces the VTX system of custom controls. The online help that accompanies the VTX software provides detailed information about the VTX system.

™

(VTX

™

) is a powerful system of software tools

Visual Basic

™

for Windo ws

™

Before using the VTX system, it is strongly recommended that you have an understanding of

●

Microsoft Windows, version 3.1 or higher (including Windows 95) Visual Basic for W indo ws, v ersion 3.0 or the 16-bit versions of Visual

●

Basic, version 4.0 (Professional and Enterprise Editions). (Note that the Standard Edition of Visual Basic 4.0 does not support 16-bit controls.)

●

Data acquisition principles Data acquisition hardware for which you are writing applications

●

Overview of this Guide ix

This guide and the online help for the VTX system are written with the assumption that you understand the fundamental programming techniques of Visual Basic, especially the concept of event-driven programming. In addition, it is assumed that you know the capabilities of your data acquisition boards and the options available. Refer to the documentation for Visual Basic, Windows, and your data acquisition boards for basic information about these products.

This guide contains the following chapters:

Chapter 1, Installing VTX Software , lists the system requirements

●

and explains how to install the VTX software.

Chapter 2, Creating Your First VTX Application, provides a

●

tutorial for quickly creating a simple application using the VTX DAS and T e xt controls. This chapter also provides information on using the example programs that accompany your VTX software .

Conventions

Chapter 3, Understanding the VTX System , explains the

●

fundamental concepts of the VTX system.

Chapter 4, Building Complex A pplications, describes in detail how

●

to create a complex data acquisition application with V isual Basic and the VTX system.

The VTX system provides two controls that communicate directly with the Keithley MetraByte boards that the controls support, the DAS control and the Counter/Timer (CTM) control. Throughout this user’s guide, references to DAS boards or DAS hardware include all Keithley MetraByte data acquisition hardware that the VTX DAS control currently supports. Similarly, references to CTM boards include all Keithley MetraByte counter/timer boards that the VTX CTM control currently supports. Contact your Keithley MetraByte sales representative for a list of currently supported boards.

References to Windows 3.x in this guide include Windows 3.1 and Windows 3.11 for Workgroups only.

x Introducing VTX

}

The illustrations in this guide were created using Visual Basic 3.0 running under Windows 3.1. As appropriate, the accompanying text describes items that differ in Visual Basic 4.0 and in Windows 95.

The following table shows the typographic conventions used in this guide.

Example of Convention Description

This bold font indicates a key name.

CTRL+C

DASCtrl1.ClockSrc

numericexpression

[form.]

{

SampleIndex Initial capital letters indicate the name of a language

When key names are connected by a plus (+) sign, you press the keys simultaneously. For example,

CTRL+C means hold down the CONTROL key

while pressing the C key. The Courier font indicates program code or system

messages. In syntax, italic letters indicate placeholders for values

you supply. In syntax, square brackets around an item indicate that

the item is optional. In syntax, curly brackets and a vertical line indicate a

choice between two or more items. Unless the set of items also falls within square brackets, you must choose one of the items.

element, such as a property.

Conventions xi

Using Online Help

The online help system for the VTX software includes

●

Overview information on the VTX system and on each VTX control Generalized procedures for setting up processes for each VTX control

●

Brief descriptions of the VTX example programs

●

Programming tips Deﬁnitions of VTX properties, functions, and events

●

Valid ranges or values for properties

●

Code examples that you can cut and paste into your application

●

Error information

The VTX help system has a general overview help ﬁle from which you can access information on all VTX controls and the e xample programs. In addition, the help system contains a separate help ﬁle for each VTX control. All of these help ﬁles are installed by default.

To provide speciﬁc information for the different Keithley MetraByte boards supported by the VTX software, the VTX help system also contains board-speciﬁc help ﬁles. When installing the board-speciﬁc software, the VTX installation program copies the associated board-speciﬁc help ﬁle to your hard drive.

The VTX installation program copies VTX help ﬁles and their supporting executable ﬁles into the same directory. To be able to access the help ﬁles from one another, you must keep all of these ﬁles in the same directory.

xii Introducing VTX

Accessing VTX Online Help

You can access VTX online help from within Visual Basic and from the Keithley VTX program group created at installation. The methods to access help from Visual Basic are the same under Visual Basic 3.0 and

4.0. In addition, accessing help from either version of Visual Basic is essentially the same under Windows 3.x and Windows 95. The following sections describe ways to access VTX help from Visual Basic, the Keithley VTX program group in Windows 3.x, and the Windows 95 desktop.

From Visual Basic

Use one of the following methods to access VTX online help from within Visual Basic:

From the Visual Basic Toolbox, double-click the icon for a VTX

●

control to place the control on a Visual Basic form. With the control still selected on the form, press F1 . Under Windows 3.x, the main menu (contents) for the control help is displayed. Under W indo ws 95, the Help Topics dialog box appears with the Contents tab displayed.

●

Display the Properties window or More Properties window of a VTX control. Highlight a property and then press topic for that property.

Note that the Properties window for each VTX control contains properties that are standard Visual Basic properties, such as Caption and Name. When you press

on these properties, the standard

Visual Basic online help appears.

From the Keithley VTX Program Group in Windows 3.x

The Keithley VTX program group is created when you install VTX software. It includes two help icons (yellow question marks), one captioned VTX Help, and the other captioned Examples. The VTX Help icon lets you access the VTX overview help ﬁle. From the main menu (Windows 3.x) of the overview help ﬁle, you can access the entire VTX help system, including the Examples help ﬁle. The Examples icon provides direct access to the descriptions of the example programs provided with the VTX software.

to display the help

Using Online Help xiii

To access general information about the VTX system or speciﬁc information about the controls, follow these steps:

1. Double-click the VTX Help icon to display the main menu (Windows

3.x) for the VTX overview help ﬁle.

2. From the main menu, double-click the icon or text for the topic you are interested in. Alternatively, click the Search button in the button bar to use the Search keyword list to locate a topic.

From the Windows 95 Desktop

One way to access VTX help from the Windows 95 desktop is to begin with the task bar, as follows:

1. From the Windows 95 task bar, use the left mouse button to click the Start button.

2. From the Start menu, move the mouse pointer over the Programs item.

3. From the Programs menu, move the mouse pointer over the Keithley VTX item.

4. From the Keithley VTX menu, click VTX Help. The Contents tab for the VTX overview help ﬁle appears.

If you are accustomed to the W indows 3.x Program Manager and program groups, you may want to use the Windows 95 equivalent, as follows:

1. From the W indows 95 task bar , use the right mouse button to click the Start button.

2. When the popup menu appears, click Open.

3. From the Start window, double-click the Programs icon to display the Programs window.

4. Double-click the Keithley VTX icon.

5. From the Keithley VTX program window, double-click the yellow question mark icon for the help ﬁle you want to read (VTX Help or Examples).

To access VTX help from the My Computer folder, follow these steps:

1. From the W indo ws 95 desktop, double-click the My Computer folder to open it.

xiv Introducing VTX

2. From the My Computer window , double-click the icon of the dri v e on which you installed VTX softw are. For example, if you installed VTX software on the C drive, click the C drive icon.

3. From the drive window, double-click the Keithley VTX folder to display the program group window. (If you installed VTX software in the default directory, the folder appears at the root level of the drive. Howev er , if you installed the VTX software elsewhere, you may need to open another folder.)

4. T o access the VTX help from the K eithley VTX windo w, double-click the yellow question mark icon for the help ﬁle you want to read (VTX Help or Examples).

Once within the VTX help system, you can access general information about the VTX system or speciﬁc information about the controls by following these steps:

1. If necessary, click the Contents button in the button bar near the top of the help window to display the Contents tab of the Help Topics dialog box.

2. From the Contents tab, double-click a book icon to display the topics available.

3. As needed, double-click other book icons until you see the topic you want to read (a page icon).

4. Double-click the page icon to display the topic you want to read.

Alternatively, you can click the Index button in button bar near the top of the help window and use the Index tab of the Help Topics dialog box to search for topics associated with a particular keyword. Note that each tab of the Help Topics dialog box provides a system-wide view of VTX help.

Accessing Board-Speciﬁc Information

Windows help provides a button bar near the top of the window that contains standard buttons such as Contents. To let you access information speciﬁc to the DAS-Demo Device and to supported Keithley MetraByte board families (for example, the D AS-1800 Series family), the VTX DAS control help ﬁle provides two additional buttons:

Select Board — Displays a dialog box in which you select the

●

DAS-Demo Device or the Keithley MetraByte board family for

Using Online Help xv

which you want additional information. After selecting the family, you must click the Board Speciﬁcs button to display the parallel topic in the board-speciﬁc help ﬁle.

Board Speciﬁcs — Displays a corresponding topic for the selected

●

board family. For example, from the DAS control topic OpMode Property, you can display the same topic for the DAS-1800 Series family, which shows which operation modes are available for all boards in the DAS-1800 Series family.

To return to the DAS control help topics, the board-speciﬁc help ﬁles provide two buttons:

Back to DAS — Returns to the topic from which you jumped in the

●

VTX DAS control help. For example, from the OpMode Property topic in the DAS control help, you accessed the same topic for the DAS-1600 Series family. From that topic, you browsed forward to the topic, Samples Property. To return to the OpMode Property topic in the DAS control help, click the Back to DAS button.

●

Up to DAS — Displays a corresponding topic in the DAS control help. This button performs the same function as the Board Speciﬁcs button, in reverse. F or e xample, you ha v e been browsing in the topics for the DAS-Demo Device and are reading the Samples Property topic. To view the Samples Property topic in the DAS control help, click the Up to DAS button.

The online help system for VTX controls is always available at design time. By default, the help system is also available from the VTX dialog boxes that present warnings and errors at run time. You can use the VTX Options window of the VTX Conﬁguration utility to disable the dialog boxes and/or to disable access to the help system. See “Enabling and Disabling VTX Options” on page 4-41 for details.

If your application will be used by others, you may want to add your own help system and a Help button using the Windows applications programming interface (API) function WINHELP. See your Visual Basic documentation for information on using the WINHELP function.

xvi Introducing VTX

Getting Additional Help

For additional assistance, you can call the Keithley MetraByte Applications Engineering department at

(508) 880-3000 Monday - Friday, 8:00

An applications engineer will help you diagnose and resolve your problem over the telephone.

Please make sure that you have the follo wing information av ailable before you call:

A.M.

- 6:00

, Eastern Time

P.M.

Visual Test Extensions

Version ____________________ Module(s) Base Analysis Graph Invoice/Order # ____________________ VTX Driver Disk Version ____________________

Visual Basic Version 3.0 4.0 (16-bit) for Windows

Edition Standard Professional

Enterprise

Operating system DOS Version ____________________

Windows Version 3.1 3.11 95

Computer

Manufacturer ____________________ CPU type 386 486 Pentium___ Clock Speed (MHz) ____________________ Math Coprocessor Yes No Amount of RAM ____________________ Video System VGA SVGA Other: ____________________ BIOS type ____________________

Boards

Series/Name ____________________ Model ____________________ Serial # ____________________ Base Address Setting ____________________ DMA Level Setting ____________________ Interrupt Level Setting ____________________

Getting Additional Help xvii

Input Conﬁguration Single-ended Differential Input Range Type Unipolar Bipolar

Expansion accessories

Type ____________________ Type ____________________ Type ____________________ Type ____________________ Type ____________________ Type ____________________ Type ____________________

xviii Introducing VTX

Table of Contents

Introducing VTX

Overview of this Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ix

Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xi

Using Online Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xii

Accessing VTX Online Help. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xiii

From Visual Basic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xiii

From the Keithley VTX Program Group in

Windows 3.x. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xiii

From the Windows 95 Desktop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiv

Accessing Board-Speciﬁc Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv

Getting Additional Help. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvii

Installing VTX Software

Preparing to Install VTX Software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-1

Checking System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-2

Checking the Package . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-3

Backing Up the Master Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-4

Installing VTX Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-4

Preparing to Use Boards with VTX Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-6

Registering and Conﬁguring Boards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-7

Changing the Conﬁguration of a Registered Board. . . . .1-10

Deleting a Registered Board. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-10

Changing an Alias . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-11

Specifying Engineering Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-12

Reserving Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-15

Installing Hardware. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-17

Loading VTX Controls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-18

Adding a Control to an Application Manually . . . . . . . . . . .1-19

Visual Basic 3.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-20

Visual Basic 4.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-20

Loading VTX Controls Automatically . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-21

Visual Basic 3.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-22

Visual Basic 4.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-23

Creating Your First VTX Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-24

iii

Creating Your First VTX Application

Assumptions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-1

Overview of the Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-2

Design the User Interface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-3

Set the Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-9

Set the Form Properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-9

Set the DAS Control Properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-11

Set the Text Control Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-14

Set the Command Button Properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-16

Connect the VTX Controls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-22

Write the Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-24

Write Code for the Start Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-25

Write Code for the Stop Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-27

Write Code for the Exit Button. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-28

Run the Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-30

What’s Next . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-31

Understanding the VTX System

The VTX Environment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-1

Processes and Process Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-3

Overview of VTX Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-5

Properties of VTX Controls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-8

Control Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-8

Operation-Speciﬁc Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-11

Source and Destination Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-14

Program Control in the VTX Environment. . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-16

Data in the VTX Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-16

Deﬁning the Structure of Data in the

VTX Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-17

Moving Data between VTX Controls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-18

Moving Data to and from the VTX Environment . . . . . .3-19

Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-20

Connection Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-21

Connection Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-22

Multiple Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-25

Interform Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-26

Concept Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-30

Building Complex Applications

Planning the Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-2

Designing the User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-3

Setting Properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-5

Connecting VTX Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-6

Displaying the Order of Multiple Connections. . . . . . . . . . . .4-7

Changing the Order of Multiple Connections. . . . . . . . . . . . .4-8

Drawing Interform Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-9

Deleting Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-11

Writing Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-12

VTX Events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-13

ProcessDone Event. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-14

ProcessError Event. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-15

ProcessCTMDone Event . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-15

NDataDone Event. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-16

Text Control Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-16

VTX Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-17

Integration of the User Interface and Supporting Tasks . . . .4-19

Accepting User Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-21

Starting/Stopping Operations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-24

Click Event Procedure - Starting VTX Controls. . . . .4-25

Click Event Procedure - Stopping VTX Controls . . . .4-25

Displaying Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-27

Displaying Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-27

Displaying a Scalar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-28

Displaying Data in a VTX Grid. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-29

Graphing Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-33

Displaying Data in a List Box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-34

Displaying Data in a Windows Spreadsheet . . . . . . . .4-35

Error Handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-36

Execution Errors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-37

Process Warnings and Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-38

Testing, Debugging, and Preparing for Distribution . . . . . . . . .4-39

Using Visual Basic Debugging Tools with

VTX Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-40

Enabling and Disabling VTX Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-41

Selecting Files for Distribution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-42

Board-Speciﬁc Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-43

INI Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-44

VDMAD.386 File (Windows 3.x) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-45

VTX Software Already Installed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-45

VTX Software Not Installed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-46

VDMAD.VXD File (Windows 95) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-47

VTX Software Already Installed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-47

VTX Software Not Installed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-47

Index

List of Figures

Figure 1-1. DAS Hardware Configuration Window . . . . . . . .1-8

Figure 1-2. List of Aliases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-11

Figure 1-3. Engineering Units Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-13

Figure 1-4. Keithley Memory Manager Window

(Windows 3.x Version). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-16

Figure 2-1. Displaying a Single Data Point -

Design-Time View. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-2

Figure 2-2. Displaying a Single Data Point -

Run-Time View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-3

Figure 3-1. Properties Window for the DAS Control

(Visual Basic 3.0) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-9

Figure 3-2. More Properties Window for the DAS Control. .3-11 Figure 3-3. Effects of Changing the Process Source

on the More Properties Window . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-12

Figure 3-4. Effects of Changing Property Values

in the More Properties Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-13

Figure 3-5. Source and Destination Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-14

Figure 3-6. Multiple Source Controls to a Single

Destination Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-15

Figure 3-7. Example of a Data Group in the

VTX Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-17

Figure 3-8. Example of Moving Data to and from the

VTX Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-19

Figure 3-9. Types of Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-21

Figure 3-10. Examples of Connection Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-23

Figure 3-11. VTX Logic Control Connection Points. . . . . . . .3-24

Figure 3-12. Data, CTM, and Computation Control

Output Connection Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-25

Figure 3-13. Multiple Connections to the Same

Connection Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-26

Figure 3-14. Example of Interform Connections . . . . . . . . . . .3-27

Figure 3-15. Using Separate Forms and Interform

Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-28

Figure 3-16. Example of the Interform Connection

Dialog Box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-29

Figure 4-1. Using Separate Forms for a Complex

VTX Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-3

Figure 4-2. Multiple Connections to the Same

Input Connection Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-7

Figure 4-3. Changing the Order of Connections . . . . . . . . . . .4-8

Figure 4-4. Interform Connection Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-10

Figure 4-5. Selecting Connections for Deletion. . . . . . . . . . .4-12

Figure 4-6. VTX DAS Example 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-20

Figure 4-7. Displaying a Single Data Point -

Design-Time View. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-28

Figure 4-8. Displaying a Single Data Point -

Run-Time View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-29

Figure 4-9. Displaying Data in a Grid -

Design-Time View. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-30

Figure 4-10. Displaying Data in a Grid - Run-Time View. . . .4-31

Figure 4-11. Graphing Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-33

Figure 4-12. Displaying Data in a Visual Basic List Box . . . .4-34

Figure 4-13. Transferring Data to a Spreadsheet . . . . . . . . . . .4-36

List of Tables

Table 1-1. Backup Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-4

Table 1-2. VTX Control Filenames. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-18

Table 3-1. VTX Controls, Processes, and Process

Sources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-4

Table 3-2. Properties Common to all VTX Controls . . . . . .3-10

Table 4-1. Visual Basic Events for Text Control

Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-17

Table 4-2. Files Required for Distributing VTX

Applications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-42

vii

Installing VTX Software

To get started quickly with the V isual Test Extensions (VTX) system, this chapter explains the steps necessary to install the VTX software. These steps include

1. Preparing for installation.

2. Installing VTX software.

3. Preparing to use boards with VTX software.

4. Loading the VTX controls into the Visual Basic Toolbox (if you have not chosen to load them during installation).

5. Creating your ﬁrst VTX application.

Note:

uncompressed text ﬁle (INSTALL.TXT) that also explains how to install the VTX software. If you are upgrading your VTX software, check this ﬁle for pertinent information before installing the upgrade software. You can read INSTALL.TXT with any text editor.

The master disk #1 of the VTX DAS Base Module provides an

Preparing to Install VTX Software

Before you install the VTX software, you need to

1. Check that the system on which you are installing the VTX software meets the system requirements.

2. Check the contents of your VTX package.

3. Make backup copies of the master disks.

Preparing to Install VTX Software 1-1

Note:

The VTX software provides a board simulation tool, called the DAS-Demo Device. You can use the DAS-Demo Device to develop applications without installing your Keithley MetraByte board and related software.

The following subsections describe each of these steps in more detail.

Checking System Requirements

To use the VTX system, ensure that the computer on which you are installing the software meets the following hardware and software requirements:

●

IBM

-compatible computer with an 80386DX or higher processor Data acquisition boards available or installed A 3 1/2-inch ﬂoppy drive VGA, SVGA, or compatible monitor A mouse and supporting software MS-DOS

, version 5.0 or higher

●

Windows, version 3.1 or higher, in standard or enhanced mode, or Windows 95

●

Visual Basic for Windows, version 3.0 (Standard or Professional Editions) or Visual Basic for W indows, v ersion 4.0 (16-bit versions of the Professional and Enterprise Editions only). The Standard Edition of Visual Basic 4.0 does not support 16-bit controls.

Ensure that the computer has memory and hard disk space that are sufﬁcient to support the data acquisition boards, your version of Windows, and Visual Basic for Windows in addition to the VTX system ﬁles.

1-2 Installing VTX Software

Checking the Package

The basic VTX package contains

VTX DAS Base Module master disks (3)

●

VTX Driver master disk (1)

●

This guide, Visual Test Extensions User’s Guide

●

The VTX DAS Base Module master disks contain the basic VTX software, including the CTM, DAS, Data, Logic, Text, and Transfer control software and VTX system software. The VTX Driver master disk contains the board-speciﬁc software (drivers) required to use the VTX software with Keithley MetraByte hardware. See “Installing VTX Software,” on page 1-4 for details on installing the appropriate drivers for your board.

Note:

If you purchase a Keithley MetraByte board that became available after the current version of the VTX software, use the VTX Driver disk that accompanies the board to install the VTX driver for that board.

The optional VTX modules contain

VTX Analysis Module master disk (1)

●

VTX Graph Module master disk (1)

If any disk is missing, call the Keithley MetraByte Applications Engineering department. See “Getting Additional Help,” on page xvii.

Preparing to Install VTX Software 1-3

Backing Up the Master Disks

Before you install the VTX software, back up the master disks. Use one of the commands shown in Table 1-1.

Table 1-1. Backup Commands

From Use

Windows 3.x File menu in File Manager Copy command

Disk menu in File Manager Copy Disk command DOS prompt COPY or DISKCOPY command

Windows 95 Edit menu of Explorer Copy and Paste commands

Edit menu of Keithley VTX program group window, which is accessible from My Computer or Start button in the task bar

Installing VTX Software

Use the following steps to install VTX software from either Windo ws 3.x or Windo ws 95:

1. Insert master disk #1 of the VTX DAS Base Module in the

appropriate disk drive.

2. With Windows 3.x running, click Run on the File menu.

With Windows 95 running, click the Start button in the task bar and then click Run on the Start menu.

3. In the Run dialog box, enter the appropriate drive letter and the setup

command. For example, if the disk is in drive A, enter

Copy and Paste commands

a:\setup

4. Follow the prompts to complete the installation process.

1-4 Installing VTX Software

The installation program checks for the board-speciﬁc software required to use the VTX software with your Keithley MetraByte hardware. If the board-speciﬁc software requires an upgrade or is not installed on your computer, the installation program provides the option of upgrading or installing the board-speciﬁc software.

If you choose not to upgrade or install the board-speciﬁc software at this time, you can run the VTX installation program again at your convenience. When you run the program again, choose the option to customize the installation. At the Custom Installation dialog box, choose only the board-speciﬁc software option (deselect all other options). Follow the prompts to upgrade or install the board-speciﬁc software.

5. If it successfully locates Visual Basic, the installation program gives

you the option of automatically adding the VTX controls to your Visual Basic Toolbox through the AUTOLOAD.MAK (Visual Basic

3.0) or AUTO16LD.VBP (V isual Basic 4.0) project. If you plan to use the VTX controls in most of your Visual Basic applications, you may want to take advantage of this option. If not, you can add the VTX controls manually to each application as needed. See the section “Adding a Control to an Application Manually,” on page 1-19 for instructions.

When software installation is complete, check the README file for information that was not available before this guide was printed. You can read this ﬁle at any time by clicking the README icon in the Keithley VTX program group of the Windows 3.x Program Manager or by choosing in succession Start, Programs, Keithley VTX, and README from the Windows 95 task bar.

After checking the README file, you can start using the VTX controls with Visual Basic as long as you chose to add them automatically during installation. (If you chose not to add them automatically to the Toolbox, see “Loading VTX Controls,” on page 1-18 for instructions.)

You can use the DAS-Demo Device that accompanies VTX software to simulate data acquisition operations. Before you can set up and run applications using a Keithley MetraByte board, you must use the VTX Conﬁguration utility to register and conﬁgure your board. See the next section for details.

Installing VTX Software 1-5

Notes:

Even if you installed and conﬁgured a Keithley MetraByte board prior to receiving the VTX software, you must register and conﬁgure the board for use with the VTX software.

If you should need to remove the VTX software from the computer, you may want to use the Uninstall VTX program. The program is accessible through the Uninstall VTX icon in the Keithley VTX program group.

If you have not already installed it, do not install the board until after you have installed all the software and prepared the board for use with the VTX software.

Preparing to Use Boards with VTX Software

VTX software includes a special utility, the VTX Conﬁguration utility, that provides the following conﬁguration windows:

DAS Hardware - For registering and conﬁguring your Keithley

●

MetraByte data acquisition boards for use with VTX software. Before you can use your boards with the VTX software and Visual Basic, you must register and conﬁgure the boards with the DAS Hardware conﬁguration window.

The DAS Hardware conﬁguration window also provides access to an Engineering Units window, where you can specify the type of sensor or equation to use in converting analog input data into engineering units. Converting data is optional. You can do this at the time you register and conﬁgure the board or later when you are setting up the analog input operation.

Keithley Memory Manager - For allocating system memory for VTX

●

data acquisition applications. You may want to increase the amount of system memory allocated for VTX data acquisition applications by the Keithley Memory Manager (KMM). By default the KMM allocates 128K bytes of memory. See “Reserving Memory,” on page 1-15 for details.

1-6 Installing VTX Software

VTX Options - For specifying options for the VTX programming

●

environment. The default values for the VTX Options should sufﬁce while you are developing applications. You may want to change the options if you release an application to other users. See “Enabling and Disabling VTX Options,” on page 4-41 for details.

The following subsections explain how to use the DAS Hardware conﬁguration window to register and conﬁgure boards for use with VTX software.

Registering and Conﬁguring Boards

To register and conﬁgure your Keithley MetraByte boards for use with VTX software, perform the following steps:

1. From the Keithley VTX group window in the Windows 3.x Program

Manager, double-click the VTX Conﬁguration icon. From the Windows 95 task bar, click Start, then slide the cursor over

Programs, then Keithley VTX, and click VTX Conﬁguration.

Preparing to Use Boards with VTX Software 1-7

When the VTX Conﬁguration utility window opens, the DAS Hardware conﬁguration window is on top, as shown in Figure 1-1.

Figure 1-1. DAS Hardware Conﬁguration Window

2. From the DAS Hardware conﬁguration windo w, choose the Add Ne w

button to register a board for use with the VTX software. The Add New Board dialog box appears, with a list of the board families whose VTX-compatible software is currently installed.

1-8 Installing VTX Software

The following example of the dialog box sho ws many of the currently supported Keithley MetraByte board families; a typical VTX installation would not show as many board families:

Note:

For a board family to appear in the Add New Board dialog box, you must have properly installed the VTX-compatible software for the board.

3. From the Add New Board dialog box, select the family name of the board series that is appropriate to the board you are registering. For example, if you are using a DAS-1801ST board, select DAS-1800 Series.

4. Choose the OK button. The DAS Hardware conﬁguration window displays the appropriate board conﬁguration utility . F or some boards, a DOS session of the conﬁguration utility starts; for other boards, a Windows utility starts.

5. When the board conﬁguration appears, set the parameters for the board as appropriate. See the user’s guide for the board if you need assistance conﬁguring the board.

6. Save the conﬁguration and exit the board conﬁguration utility. If the utility is running in a DOS session, press

. Then, when

ESC

prompted, enter Y to save any changes or N to discard the changes and exit.

Preparing to Use Boards with VTX Software 1-9

7. Repeat steps 2 through 6 to register and conﬁgure any additional boards.

From the DAS Hardware conﬁguration window, you can access online help by pressing

or by choosing the Help button.

Changing the Conﬁguration of a Registered Board

To change the conﬁguration of a registered board, follow these steps:

1. Select the board from the list in the DAS Hardware conﬁguration window.

2. Choose the Conﬁgure button.

3. When the DAS Hardware conﬁguration window displays the appropriate board conﬁguration utility, change the parameters as appropriate to your application.

4. Save your changes and exit to the DAS Hardware conﬁguration window.

Deleting a Registered Board

To delete a board from the list of registered boards, follow these steps:

1. Select the board name from the list in the DAS Hardware conﬁguration window.

2. Choose the Remove button.

3. When prompted, choose the Yes button to conﬁrm the deletion or the No button to cancel the deletion.

1-10 Installing VTX Software

Changing an Alias

When you add and conﬁgure a board, the VTX software automatically assigns a unique identiﬁer to the board, called an alias . An alias is a name that identiﬁes a board for the VTX D AS or CTM control; the alias appears in the list of process sources for the appropriate control. In Figure 1-2, the default alias for the DAS-Demo Device appears in the list (Pseudo DAS Device) along with default aliases for three PIO-12 boards and a DAS-1801ST board.

Figure 1-2. List of Aliases

When you keep the default aliases, new boards are always assigned the lowest board number av ailable; when you remov e a board, the numbers of other boards in the same family are updated automatically. Using the example in Figure 1-2, the default aliases for the PIO-12 boards are PIO-12 Board 1, PIO-12 Board 2, and PIO-12 Board 3. Suppose you remove the second PIO-12 board (default alias PIO-12 Board 2). The alias for the third PIO-12 board (default alias PIO Board 3) automatically changes to PIO-12 Board 2.

You can change the alias to a name that is more meaningful to your application. When choosing an alias, keep in mind that VTX software does not automatically update the aliases that you assign and that you must assign a unique alias.

To change an alias, perform the following steps:

1. From the list in the DAS Hardware conﬁguration window, select the board name and alias.

2. Choose the Change Alias button.

Preparing to Use Boards with VTX Software 1-11

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