Wet Labs WETView User’s Guide
Table of Contents
1. Introduction................................................................................... 1
2. System Requirements .................................................................. 1
3. Installation .................................................................................... 1
3.1 Installing the Software ....................................................................................... 1
4. Quick Start.................................................................................... 2
5. Operational Overview................................................................... 3
5.1 How to Control WETView ................................................................................ 3
5.2 How Data is Collected ....................................................................................... 3
5.3 How to Display Data.......................................................................................... 4
5.4 How to Rescale Graphs...................................................................................... 4
6. The Menus ................................................................................... 5
6.1 File menu ........................................................................................................... 5
6.2 Graph menu........................................................................................................ 5
6.3 Options menu..................................................................................................... 5
6.3.1 Opening a device............................................................................................. 6
6.3.2 Serial numbers should match.......................................................................... 6
6.3.3 Opening a data file .......................................................................................... 6
6.3.4 Saving data to a file......................................................................................... 7
6.3.5 Saving a graph................................................................................................. 7
6.3.6 Opening a graph.............................................................................................. 7
6.3.7 Printing a graph............................................................................................... 7
6.3.8 Changing a device's configuration (calibration) ............................................. 7
7. Configuration ................................................................................ 9
7.1 Configuring the ac-9 .......................................................................................... 9
7.2 Configuring the HiStar..................................................................................... 10
7.2.1 Selecting the graph to display ....................................................................... 10
7.2.2 Changing the graph options .......................................................................... 11
7.2.3 Starting an acquisition run ............................................................................ 11
7.2.4 Ending an acquisition run ............................................................................. 11
7.2.5 Changing the acquisition options.................................................................. 11
7.2.6 Quitting WETView....................................................................................... 11
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Appendix A—Absorption Coefficient Computation ........................... 12
Appendix B—ac-9 Meter .................................................................. 13
ac-9 Theory of Operation.............................................................................................. 13
Temperature.................................................................................................................. 13
Depth......................................................................................................................... 13
ac-9 Configuration File................................................................................................. 14
ac-9 Data Files .............................................................................................................. 14
Data lines .................................................................................................................. 15
Reference lines.......................................................................................................... 15
Example .................................................................................................................... 15
ac-9 Complete Example................................................................................................ 17
Configuration file...................................................................................................... 17
Raw data.................................................................................................................... 18
Appendix C—HiStar Meter ............................................................... 22
Theory of Operation...................................................................................................... 22
Computations................................................................................................................ 22
Instrument Internal Temperature .............................................................................. 22
Depth (Optional Sensor) ........................................................................................... 23
HiStar Configuration File ............................................................................................. 23
HiStar Data Files........................................................................................................... 25
HiStar Calculations ....................................................................................................... 26
HiStar Complete Example ............................................................................................ 27
Configuration file...................................................................................................... 27
Raw data.................................................................................................................... 27
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1. Introduction
WETView is a data acquisition and display program for acquiring and viewing the data
produced by WET Labs instruments. It runs on IBM PC compatible computers.
This document describes what is required to run WETView, how to install it and how to
use it.
2. System Requirements
It is recommended you have at least a 90 Mhz Pentium with at least 16 Mb of memory.
You will need about 3 Mb of disk space for the WETView program and related files. The
speed of the processor limits how much real-time graphing can be accomplished without
data loss. The size of memory limits the number of data points that can be plotted in one
run.
You need to be running either Windows 95 or Windows NT Workstation 4.0 operating
systems.
3. Installation
The WETView distribution disks contain three files: SETUP.EXE, WETVIEW.001,
and WETVIEW.002.
Once installed, the WETView directory contains the following files:
• WETVIEW.EXE WETView program
• WETVIEW.UIR WETView user interface resource file
• *.DEVDevice configuration files (the actual name(s) of these files depend upon the
instrument(s) that you have purchased)
• README.TXTSome late-breaking information.
3.1 Installing the Software
Step 1: Insert the floppy disk labeled “WetView Installation Disk 1” in your
floppy disk drive.
Step 2: Using the Explorer, open the floppy and double-click on the SETUP.EXE
icon. SETUP will guide you through the rest of the installation process.
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4. Quick Start
This section gives instructions for you to quickly get a single meter connected and
displaying data.
After installing the software:
1. Connect the meter to an appropriate power supply (15 VDC, 5 W).
2. Connect the data line to one of the communication ports on your computer.
3. Turn the meter power supply on.
4. Start the WETView program.
5. Open a device configuration file by pressing the “^O to Open” button at the top of the
screen (or by typing control-O). A dialog will appear, allowing you to select a file to
open.
6. Select the COM port to which you attached the meter.
7. Press the “F1 to Start” button at the top of the screen.
8. After several seconds, stop the acquisition by pressing the “F2 to Stop” button.
9. Save the newly acquired data to a file. Name the file TMP.DAT.
10. Rescale the graph by selecting the “All channels” button in the lower right corner of
the screen. You can zoom in on one channel by press the colored button next to the
channel’s name on the right-hand side of the screen.
11. Open the data file you have just created by selecting the “Open .DAT file...” item
from the "File" menu. Choose the file named TMP.DAT.
12. View the data in the file by pressing the “F1 to Start” button at the top of the screen.
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5. Operational Overview
WETView performs two main functions. It acquires data from WET Labs’ instruments
and it displays data that has been collected. WETView can perform these simultaneously
or independently.
5.1 How to Control WETView
You may use a mouse or keyboard commands to control WETView. The assigned
function keys are:
F1 Start acquiring data
F2 Stop acquiring data
F3 Bring up Graph Options dialog
F4 Bring up Binning Options dialog
F5 Move data on graph to the left (or down)
F6 Move data on graph to the right (or up)
F7 Zoom graph in
F8 Zoom graph out
^O (control-O) Opens a device for data acquisition.
To operate controls on the screen using the keyboard, select the control by tabbing
until the desired control is highlighted, then change its value. The method for
changing a control’s value depends on the type of control:
• For a text or numeric field, type the desired value.
• For a radio button, type a space to toggle its value.
• For a button, type Return to activate the button.
Most dialogs have an “OK” and a “Cancel” button. The function key F1 will select
“OK” and the Escape key will cancel the dialog.
5.2 How Data is Collected
As data is collected, it is averaged into bins. The average of each bin is stored and can be
written to a file after the acquisition is complete. The number of samples per bin is set by
the user via the “Options | Channels/Binning…” menu item. Once the data has been
averaged into bins, those bins can be further averaged into bins of bins for plotting.
Regardless of which channels are being displayed, all data acquired from an
instrument is remembered and can be saved to a data file.
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5.3 How to Display Data
Data can be read directly from an instrument and displayed in real time, or it can be
read from a previously stored data file. You may configure the X and Y ranges for
graphs, and select which traces are to be plotted. Data that is collected may be
averaged into bins for display. Thus, you can average acquired data into bins of 4
samples each, and then display bins of 12 samples each by selecting a collection bin
size of 4 and a display bin size of 3.
5.4 How to Rescale Graphs
When there is data displayed in a graph, you can rescale the graph's bounds to zoom
in on a single channel by clicking on the small button associated with the channel's
label (on the right side of the screen). Clicking on the “All channels” button will
rescale the graph so that all displayed channels will be shown.
In the lower right corner of the screen are four buttons for navigating around a
displayed graph. You can zoom in (magnify) a graph, or zoom out.
You can also move the bounds on the graph to shift the viewed data to the right or left
on the current graph (for strip charts, these move the graph up and down).
You can change other characteristics of a graph by selecting the “Options | Graph”
menu item (or, equivalently, the “Graph | Options” menu item).
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6. The Menus
6.1 File menu
New ^N Clears the current graph and disconnects from the current
instrument.
Open Device... ^O Chooses which type of device to collect data from.
Open .DAT File... Opens a previously saved data file for display.
Save as... ^S Saves the most recently acquired data into a data file.
Configure… Allows you to edit the configuration for an instrument,
including the calibration constants.
Quit ^Q Quits the WETView program.
6.2 Graph menu
Absorption vs.
Time
Absorption vs.
Temp...
Time Strip Chart Selects the horizontal strip chart for display (absorption
Spectrograph
(Scatter plot)
Spectrograph
(Spectrum)
Open Graph... Opens a graph file for viewing.
Selects the vertical graph of absorption versus time.
Selects the vertical graph of absorption versus
temperature.
vs. time).
Selects the scatter plot of absorption/attenuation vs.
wavelength.
Selects the spectrum display of absorption/attenuation vs.
wavelength.
Save Graph... Saves the current graph to a file.
Print Graph... Prints the current graph to a printer.
Options... F3 Allows you to configure the scaling of graphical output.
6.3 Options menu
Graph… F3 Allows you to configure the scaling of graphical output.
Channels/
Binning...
Each of these items is discussed in greater detail below.
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F4 Allows you to set the bin size for sampling and the traces to display.
y
6.3.1 Opening a device
Select the “Open Device...” item to open an instrument for data collection.
(Actually, you are opening a device configuration file that describes the device to
be used.)
Once you have selected an instrument, you will be asked to identify the source of
the data stream. This can be either a communication port that the device is
connected to or a binary file. (A binary file is created by using a communications
program to read a device’s data from a serial port and write it directly to a file in
binary format.) Choose COM1, COM2, or .RAW File.
Once you have selected the appropriate port(s), WETView attempts to
synchronize with the device on that port. If there is any error in doing this, it will
be reported immediately. Possible errors are:
Port timed out WETView timed out trying to read data from the
selected port. Was the correct port selected? Are
cables and connections correct?
Bad format from source WETView did receive data from the selected port,
but it did not recognize the data stream. Is the
correct device connected to the selected port? Is it
turned on?
6.3.2 Serial numbers should match
Once WETView connects to the instrument, it checks to see if the serial number
of the instrument matches the serial number given in the configuration file. If it
doesn't match, you are warned, but can elect to continue.
Caution
If the serial numbers do not match, the calibration information stored in the
configuration file probably will not be correct for the instrument, so collected data
is suspect.
Software Error: Current version may always display this warning regardless of
matching serial numbers.
6.3.3 Opening a data file
Select the “Open file...” item to open a WETView data file for graphing. You will
be presented with a list of file names with .DAT extensions. Choose the file you
want to open. Once the file is open, select “Start” from the “Acquire” menu (or
type F1). Possible errors in opening the file are:
File not found The file
ou named does not exist. Did you type the name
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correctly?
Bad file format WETView did not recognize the format of the file. Did you
select a data file that was created by WETView?
Strange error opening
file
WETView ran into an unanticipated error. Did you select a
data file that was created by WETView?
6.3.4 Saving data to a file
Select the “Save As ...” item to save the most recently acquired data to a text file.
By convention, data files have the extension .DAT, though this is not required.
As WETView collects data, it writes that data to a temporary file called
WETVIEW.TMP. When you request to save the data, the file is renamed to the
name you specify. (If you quit WETView without saving the data, the
WETVIEW.TMP file is not deleted, so you can manually rename it if you wish.)
Note
Because the temporary file, WETVIEW.TMP, is renamed when you save it, the
file cannot be saved to a disk other than the one that contains the current
directory.
6.3.5 Saving a graph
Select the “Save Graph...” item to save the current graph to a file. The graph may
be opened later and viewed, rescaled, and printed.
6.3.6 Opening a graph
Select the “Open Graph...” item to open a previously saved graph file. By
convention, WETView expects graph files to have the extension .GPH.
6.3.7 Printing a graph
Select the “Print Graph...” item to print the currently displayed graph.
6.3.8 Changing a device's configuration (calibration)
To change an instrument’s calibration, a new device file must be collected. The
steps of this process are outlined below.
1. Making sure instrument is properly connected to a power supply and host
computer and that WETView is properly loaded and operational, start the
program and load an existing device file. Use the FILE menu selection and
then Open Device.
2. Open the Configure dialog box. Use the FILE menu selection and then
Configure.
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3. In the lower left-hand corner you will see a sub-dialog box with control
buttons for Zero All and Auto Cal. It is the Auto Cal control that collects new
offsets for a device file. Note the option for number of samples to average.
Select the number of individual samples you wish to average by using this
control. The default is 10 samples.
4. Once you have selected the number of samples over which to average, you
then can engage the Auto Cal control. A temporary pop-up window will notify
you as the calibration takes place. After the operation is complete you may
exit the Configuration dialog box by pressing OK in the lower right hand
corner.
5. When you exit you will be prompted as to whether you want to save the new
offset values.
Caution
Unless you deliberately save a device file the offsets you have collected
will not be permanently stored.
You may write over an older device file if you choose, but the program
will ask you if you are sure you want to do this. Otherwise you may write
to a new file.
6. Before you can use the new values, reload the newly made device file
using Open Device.
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7. Configuration
Configuration is specific to each type of device. The ac-9 and HiStar meters are discussed
below.
7.1 Configuring the ac-9
You can change the following settings for the ac-9 meter:
• calibration offsets for absorption measurements
• calibration offset for depth measurement
The ac-9 measures the absorption and attenuation of 9 different wavelengths of light.
Each of the measured quantities has a calibration offset added to it so that the
resulting number is the difference between a clean water measurement and the
measurement in the field. You can manually set the value of this offset for each
channel; however, determining the correct value to use is not trivial.
Usually, a “clean water calibration run” is performed. Chemically pure water is run
through the instrument and the values for absorption and attenuation are averaged
over a number of samples. These values are then used as the calibration offsets.
The “Auto-Cal” button in the “Channel Calibration” area of the dialog does the
collecting and averaging for you. You can set the number of samples to collect and
average over.
The “Zero All” button sets all of the calibration offsets to 0.0 so you can collect the
raw (uncorrected) values from the meter. Note that these values are always
temperature-compensated.
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