TABLE OF FIGURES... II A - DISCUSSION...1 B - CONFIGURATION...3. B.1 - Setup Dialog... 3 B.2 - Description... 4 B.3 - Controls...

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1 Radiant Technologies, Inc. 2835D Pan American Freeway NE Albuquerque, NM Tel: Fax: Table of Contents TABLE OF FIGURES... II A - DISCUSSION...1 B - CONFIGURATION...3 B.1 - Setup Dialog... 3 B.2 - Description... 4 B.3 - Controls... 4 C - EXECUTION, ARCHIVE REGRAPH AND EXPORTING...7 C - EXECUTION, ARCHIVE REGRAPH AND EXPORTING...7 C.1 - Execution... 7 C.2 - Controls... 8 C.3 - Archive Regraph... 8 C.4 Admin Info C.5 Test Definition Graphing C.6 - Exporting C.7 - Controls C.8 - Discussion D USER VARIABLES...20 E - CHANGE AND VERSION RECORD...21 I

2 Table of Figures Radiant Technologies, Inc. 2835D Pan American Freeway NE Albuquerque, NM Tel: Fax: Figure B Delay Task Configuration Dialog Figure C Delay Execution Progress Dialog Figure C Access the Delay Task in the DataSet Archive Figure C Delay Task Configuration Dialog Recalled from the DataSet Archive.. 10 Figure C Admin Info Subdialog Figure C Delay Task Test Definition Graph Text Output Figure C.6.1: Export Dialog Figure C.6.2: Standard Windows File Browser Dialog Figure C Export Configuration Dialog - Printer Option Figure C Standard Windows Printer Configuration Dialog Figure C.8.3: Delay Text Export Sample Figure C Sample Delay Task Excel Export Output Figure C.8.5: Sample Delay Task Word Export Output II

3 Radiant Technologies, Inc. 2835D Pan American Freeway NE Albuquerque, NM Tel: Fax: A - Discussion The Delay Task is a Program Control Task that pauses Test Definition execution for a specified period of time. During the pause, a progress dialog appears indicating the remaining time for the delay. Once the delay time has expired, the progress dialog is closed and the Test Definition continues. While the progress dialog appears the user may program a prompt to him or herself as a message. The prompt may have a single User Variable appended to it. The delay might be used to view the progress of some parameter during Test Definition execution or may be used to allow time for some action to be taken that is external to the Test Definition. Note that the progress dialog may be disabled for short-term delay periods. There are a number of options available that may be configured into the Delay Task or applied during the Delay execution. If the Delay is programmed into a Branch Loop, its duration can be adjusted from loop iteration-to-iteration. In this case, the normal programmed delay time is taken as the delay to be applied during the first iteration. Subsequent iterations then alter the time by either scaling the previous iteration delay by a constant scale factor or incrementing it by a constant number of seconds. Note that the scale factor may be a positive value less than 1.0 or the increment may be negative so that the delay time can be shortened as the looping continues. In this case, care must be taken that the combination of initial delay time, scale factor or increment and number of iterations do not combine to produce a delay of less than 1 second. Note that the delay time is always an integer number of seconds. Scaling the delay between loop iterations can produce a real-valued delay time that is then truncated to the integer number of seconds. This can produce unexpected results. For example, with an initial delay time of 1 second and a scale factor of 1.5, the second delay time will be 1.0 x 1.5 = 1.5, truncated to 1 second. The delay has not actually been adjusted at all. Indeed all delays in this configuration will be 1 second. Adjusting the initial delay to 2 seconds, however produces the partial sequence shown in Table A.1. The second column in the table shows the delay computed from the previous iteration. The third column is the actual applied delay. The fourth column shows the delay that would be applied if the delay time were real-valued and never truncated. Note that the fourth column diverges from the third, but in relatively slow way. Were the initial delay 1 second, the Actual Delay of iteration 9 would be 1 second, while the Delay if not Truncated would be

4 Iteration Computed Delay Actual Delay Delay if not Truncated 1 N/A Table A.1 - Error Introduced in Scaling Delays. A second capability of the Delay Task, when it is programmed into a Branch Loop, is to abort that loop prematurely. Since a dialog appears during Delay execution, interaction with the Task and the program is available. For example, clicking Cancel will immediately abbreviate the Delay. Test Definition execution will proceed normally. Note that if the Delay Task is programmed into a Branch Loop and the duration is being adjusted, the next delay time will be based on the abbreviated delay time of the abbreviated Task. Clicking Loop Abort will behave in much the same way, immediately stopping the Delay Task. The Test Definition will then proceed normally until it reaches a Branch Task. At that time, the Branch Task will read the set Abort flag and will fail to branch regardless of the state of its Branch Logic Condition. A final option is to allow the Delay Task progress dialog to be hidden when it is of short duration. Often quick delays present a dialog that flashes without allowing the user time to review it. This is distracting, unnecessary and slows the execution of Vision. Furthermore, screen updates can be of low priority to the operating system, so the dialog may remain partially displayed resulting in a confusing program image. Delays of up to 30 seconds can be programmed to disable the progress dialog. The user simply enables this feature during configuration and sets a delay limit of between 1 and 30 seconds. Any delay duration that is less that this limit will hide the progress dialog. Note that the Delay Task may appear as a sub-task in other Tasks. In that case, the hidden dialog feature may be disabled. The Branch Abort feature will continue to operate. Adjustment of the delay time will be a function of the parent Task. Changes for Version 4.1.x: Comments field extended to 511 characters. Office/Word/Excel 2000 and later export was added. (Office '97 export was elminated.) 1

5 Administrative Information output was added to the dialog and to the export functions. User-selectable option to reset delay time to the original value when programmed into a Nesting Branch Loop. Added Test Definition Graphing output. 2

6 Task Name: Delay Version: Last Update: 8 June 2010 In QuikLook Menu No Folder: Program Control Subfolder: None Subsubfolder: None Window Name: Delay Task Setup Change Record: Go to Change Record Known Bugs: None User Variables Added: B.1 - Setup Dialog User Variables B - Configuration Figure B Delay Task Configuration Dialog. 3

7 B.2 - Description Test Definition execution stops at this Task for a period of time defined by the user in seconds. During the period the Task normally presents a progress (countdown) dialog. The experimenter may provide a self-prompt to remind him or herself the reason for the delay. The prompt string may have appended to it a single User Variable. A delay might be used to allow a sample to stabilize, to perform a retention measurement, or for any reason the experiment requires. A delay may be interrupted early by clicking Cancel. If the Delay Task is programmed into a Branch Loop, the duration of the delay may be automatically adjusted to a new value for each loop iteration by selecting the Perform Adjustment option. Adjustments may be made by scaling the previous delay time by a fixed factor or by incrementing the previous delay time by a fixed value. The Current Delay Time User Variable may be used to control the loop. The delay may be programmed to occur without the appearance of the Progress Dialog if the duration of the delay is below a programmed value. This feature can be used to eliminate a distracting Progress Dialog when the delay is very short. In this case the delay will still occur for the specified time period, but the execution will only be reflected in the main program window status bar. Delays of up to 30 seconds may have their Progress Dialog disabled. Notice that in a Branch Loop, with Perform Adjustment enabled, the delay may show a Progress Dialog for some iterations and hide it for others. If checked, the Respond to Nesting Branch Reset will cause the Task to reset it Duration to the original programmed value if the "Nesting Branch: Reset" User Variable is set to TRUE. If the control is not checked, the Task will continue to adjust the Duration, if programmed to do so, regardless of the state of "Nesting Branch: Reset". See the detailed discussion in Tutorial VIII and/or the Main Manual Chapter XII of the main Vision help pages. Changes for Version 4.x.x Comments control extended to 511 characters. Add Respond to Nesting Branch Reset. B.3 - Controls Name Type Default Description Task Name Text D1 This serves as a root identifier for this instance of the Delay Task. The Task will be identified with this value in the Editor and the Current Test Definition (CTD). Executed Tasks will be displayed and stored with this name with a. and an execution number appended to it. Each new instance of a 4

8 Delay Task within the Editor should have a unique Task Name assigned. 30-character limit. Duration Integer 100 The length of the delay in integer seconds. Up to 100,000. This will be the initial delay time if the delay is to be adjusted in a Branch Loop. Values of greater than 30 in this control disable the Disable Short Term Progress Dialog checkbox. Disable Short Term Progress Dialog No Progress for delays less than... Check Box Unchecked Checking this box enables the No Progress for delays less than... control. With this option enabled, any execution of the delay that is shorter than the period specified in No Progress for delays less than... will occur without a Progress Dialog appearing. Longer duration delays will still show the Progress Dialog. This control is disabled if Duration is greater than 30. Integer 5 In integer seconds. 30 seconds maximum. This control is enabled if Disable Short Term Progress Dialog is checked. Otherwise it is disabled. If the control is enabled, a value in seconds is entered. If the delay is less than this value no Progress Dialog will appear. For longer delays, the Progress Dialog will appear. User Self Prompt Text A message from the user to him or herself. Displayed on the Delay dialog during the execution of the Task to remind the user why the execution is being delayed. Parameter to Append to Prompt Variabl e None Use this control to select one of the User Variables to display at the end of the prompt. Perform Adjustment Boolean True Enables or disables the adjustment of the current delay time, from the previous delay time, when the delay occurs within a Branch Loop. The state of this control combines with the state of Adjust by Scaling and Adjust by Incrementing to enable or disable Scale Factor and Increment (s). Adjust by Scaling Boolean True If the delay adjustment in a loop is selected, this button selects the scaling option. As a radio button, selecting this option deselects the Adjust by Incrementing option. Selecting this option enables the Scale Factor control provided Perform Adjustment is checked. Scale Factor Real 1.0 If the delay adjustment in a loop is selected and scaling is enabled, this factor will be applied to the previous delay time to obtain the current delay time. This control is enabled when Adjust by Scaling is selected and Perform Adjustment is checked, otherwise it is disabled. Adjust by Incrementing Boolean False If the delay adjustment in a loop is selected, this button selects the increment option. As a radio button, selecting this option deselects the Adjust by Scaling option. Selecting this option enables the Increment control provided Perform Adjustment is checked. Increment (s) Integer 0 If the delay adjustment in a loop is selected and incrementing is enabled, this value will be added to the previous delay time to obtain the current delay time. This control is enabled when Adjust by Incrementing is selected and Perform Adjustment is checked., otherwise it is disabled. Respond to Nesting Check Checked If checked, the Task will reset the current execution duration 5

9 Branch Reset Box to the value in Duration, regardless of the previous Task duration if the "Nesting Branch: Reset" User Variable is set to TRUE. This is the case if the Nesting Branch Task has executed with no subsequent execution by a Branch Task. If this control is not checked, the current duration will be the previous duration adjusted as programmed. Comments Text A string of up to 511 characters to be written at the user s discretion. Intended to allow a detailed description of the design decision to include the Delay Task. Help Button Unpressed Read this Help page. OK Button Unpressed Accept the configured Delay values Cancel Export Button Unpressed Do not add the Delay Task to the list in the Editor Button Unpressed This button is normally disabled. It is enabled when the dialog appears as the result of an Archive Regraph. Operating this button during Archive Regraph will open the Export dialog and allow the user to select and configure the exporting of the Task configuration data to a file or the printer. 6

10 C - Execution, Archive Regraph and Exporting C.1 - Execution During the execution of the Delay Task a dialog will normally appear, as in Figure C.1.1, to show the progress of the delay period. The dialog includes a progress bar and a countdown in days, hours, minutes and seconds as appropriate. A fixed prompt may also be displayed and have a single User Variable appended to it. With a displayed dialog, the user may interact with the Test Definition during the Task execution. Help can be accessed. Cancel will immediately abbreviate the Delay Task, but all execution will proceed normally except that, if the delay is being adjusted during Branch Looping, the next iteration will depend on the abbreviated time. Loop Abort will also immediately abbreviate the Delay Task and will also be followed by normal Test Definition execution except that when a Branch Task is encountered it will not branch, regardless of the state of the Branch Logic Condition. Under conditions of short delays (limit 30 seconds maximum) the progress dialog may not be displayed if so programmed by the user. Figure C Delay Execution Progress Dialog. 7

11 C.2 - Controls Name Type Default Description Prompt String (Unlabeled) Countdown String (Unlabeled) Text This is text that the designer provided to remind the user of the reason that the Delay Task was programmed into the experiment. This text value may have appended to it one of the User Variables. Text Delay: The remaining delay in Days, Hours, Minutes and Seconds. + time Progress Help Cancel Loop Abort Progress Bar remaining N/A A graphical indication of the percentage of the programmed delay all ready passed. This control is labeled with the percentage of the total delay currently achieved. Button Unpressed Read this Help page. Button Unpressed Abbreviate the delay Button Unpressed If the Delay Task is part of a Branch Loop and this box is pressed, the delay execution terminates immediately (as with the Cancel button ). The remaining of the Branch loop will execute normally, but the Branch Task will not Branch back to the Branch Target regardless of the result of the Branch Logic Condition. C.3 - Archive Regraph The Delay Task may be recalled from a DataSet Archive in order to review the Task configuration. To do so, open the DataSet, open the Archive folder, open the desired Executed Test Definition (ETD), open the "Experiment Data" folder and double-click on the desired Delay Task. 8

12 Figure C Access the Delay Task in the DataSet Archive. The Delay Task configuration dialog will reopen. The dialog will have most controls 9

13 disabled and presented for review only. Help is available and Cancel closes the dialog. The Export button, disabled during configuration, is now enabled to allow exporting of the Delay Task as discussed below. Admin Info, new to version 4.x.x, is hidden during configuration, but displayed on Archive Recall. It is discussed in the next section. Figure C Delay Task Configuration Dialog Recalled from the DataSet Archive. C.4 Admin Info The Admin Info button shown in Figure C.4.1 has been added to all Tasks as of Version 4.2.x. The button opens one of two subdialogs. Program Tasks, such as the Delay Task present the dialog of Figure C.4.1. Here, the Vision Version and compilation date along with the Task configuration and execution date and time are presented. This information is of minor value to the user. However, Measurement Tasks also present Tester Type, 10

14 Tester Serial Number and Driver Version. This information can be useful to RTI in helping the customer troubleshoot problems with Vision and/or the tester. Note that the exporting of this information has also been added to the export target applications as described below. C.5 Test Definition Graphing Figure C Admin Info Subdialog. Figure C.5.1 shows an example of the Delay Task text output to a Test Definition Graph in "Standard" text mode. Test Definition Graphing is available by right-clicking in the Editor or DataSet Tab window. Information about the configuration of the Tasks that make up the Test Definition is presented graphically. See the discussion in the main Vision help pages under Tutorial IX or the Main Manual Section XIII. Figure C Delay Task Test Definition Graph Text Output. 11

15 C.6 - Exporting In order to allow data to be exported from the Task when the Task is recalled from the DataSet Archive, an Export button appears on the recalled configuration dialog. This button is normally disabled, but it is enabled in Archive Regraph as in Figure C.3.2, above. Clicking the button produces the new dialog that appears below. Figure 6 shows the Export configuration dialog in which the "Export Text" option is selected and the browser button enable. Figure C.6.2 shows the browser dialog that opens when the Browse for File Name button is clicked. Figure C.6.1: Export Dialog. 12

16 Figure C.6.2: Standard Windows File Browser Dialog. C.7 - Controls Name Type Default Description Select List "Print" Select between the "Print", "Export Text", "Export Word" and Option Box "Export Excel" options. This control enables the Browse for File Line Spacing Name button for all selections except the "Print" option. Integer 100 This control appears when Select Option is set to "Print". Otherwise it is hidden. Increasing or decreasing this value will increase or decrease the vertical spacing of lines on the printed page. Experimentation will fix the value for any given printer. Left Margin Integer 100 This control appears when Select Option is set to "Print". Otherwise it is hidden. Increasing or decreasing this value will increase or decrease the left start point of text on the printed page. Experimentation will fix the value for any given printer. Tab Spacing Integer 200 This control appears when Select Option is set to "Print". Otherwise it is hidden. Increasing or decreasing this value will increase or decrease the horizontal spacing of tabbed sections of text on the printed page. Experimentation will fix the value for any given printer. Browse for Button Unpressed This control is enabled for all export options except "Print". For the 13

17 File Name remaining options, this control must be selected. The browser dialog will appear where a path and file name must be specified for the export output. File Name Text This control is always disabled and cannot be used to specify the file name or path for Text, Word or Excel export. Once the browser is used to select a path and file name, those will be displayed in this control for review. Note that a path and file name MUST be specified for the "Text" export option and may be specified for "Excel" or "Word". Help Button Unpressed Open this help document for review. OK Button Unpressed Accept the configured export and close the dialog. Exporting will occur when the main data regraph dialog is closed. Cancel Button Unpressed Close the export dialog. Do not export. C.8 - Discussion Data can be exported to one of four targets: Printer - Pre-formatted text is sent to the printer when the configuration dialog is closed. Before printing a printer setup dialog will appear (Figure C.8.2), allowing printer options to be adjusted. (The appearance of the dialog will vary from user to user.) With the release of Version 4.1.x, printer text can be formatted from within Vision by adjusting the Line Spacing, Left Margin and Tab Spacing integer values (Figure C.8.1). Experimentation will show the proper settings for all exporting to the attached printer. These controls are hidden unless the printer is specified as the target. 14

18 Figure C Export Configuration Dialog - Printer Option. 15

19 Figure C Standard Windows Printer Configuration Dialog. Text File - Selecting this option enables the Browse for File Name button. Clicking this button will open a standard browser dialog in which a file name and path must be selected. If the file already exists, the output will be appended to existing text. An output file name must be specified for this export. Figure C.8.3 shows a sample of the Delay Task text export. The information shown in the Admin Info subdialog of Figure C.4.1 has been added to the Text Export output. 16

20 Figure C.8.3: Delay Text Export Sample. Excel - Selecting this option enables the Browse for File Name button. Clicking this button will open a standard browser dialog in which a file name and path may be selected. Specifying a file name is optional. However, if specified, a unique file name/file path must be created or an overwrite situation will occur. Data are not appended to existing files. When the configuration dialog is closed, the Excel program will be started and a spread sheet created. When Excel is closed, the data will be written to the specified file name, or the user will be prompted to save if the file is not specified. Office/Excel 2000 or later must be loaded for this option. Office/Excel is not provided with the tester or Vision software. Figure C.8.4 shows a sample of the Delay Task Excel export. The information shown in the Admin Info subdialog of Figure C.4.1 has been added to the Excel Export output. 17

21 Figure C Sample Delay Task Excel Export Output. Word - Selecting this option enables the Browse for File Name button. Clicking 18

22 this button will open a standard browser dialog in which a file name and path may be selected. Specifying a file name is optional. The Word program will be opened and written when the regraph dialogs have been closed. If a new file name is specified, the document will be saved immediately. If no file name is specified, the user will be prompted to save the documents when closed. Office/Word 2000 or later must be loaded for this option. Office/Word is not provided with the tester or Vision software. The information shown in the Admin Info subdialog of Figure C.4.1 has been added to the Word Export output. Figure C.8.5: Sample Delay Task Word Export Output. 19

23 D User Variables Value Type Description Delay: Current Delay Time Integer Time in seconds of the delay of the current execution. (May differ from the initial delay time in a Branch Loop.) Delay: Cumulative Delay Time Integer Total time in seconds that a Delay Task, throughout its repeated executions in a Branch Loop, has delayed Test Definition execution. Note that this value is accurate even if the Delay Task was abbreviated with the Cancel button one more times during branching. Delay: Actual Delay Time Integer Time in seconds that the Delay Task actually delayed Test Definition execution in the current iteration. This value may differ from Delay: Current Delay Time if the Delay Task was abbreviated with the Cancel button during branching. 20

24 E - Change and Version Record Version New Version December SPC. 2. Delay Time, Delay Adjust Scale Factor, Delay Adjust Increment, Delay Adjust Type, Delay Adjust Enable and Branch Abort moved from the User Variable list to a hidden system list. This reduces clutter. Functionality is preserved - 10 December SPC. Version Set to Version for release. SPC - 14 March Installed initial Word file export - 26 March SPC. Version Set to Version SPC - 4 October Eliminated the "Eye" icon from all dialogs. SPC - 4 October Added Tool Tips. SPC - 3 December Added Office 2000 exporting. SPC - 12 February Added custom printer export text positioning. SPC - 31 July Updated Exporting to include loop adjustment parameters. SPC - 20 August Version Set to Version SPC - 21 May Made Branch Loop adjustment of delay depend on the actual previous duration instead of the programmed duration. Help pages specify actual delay adjustment. SPC - 29 June Made Branch Loop adjustment of delay depend on the actual previous duration instead of the programmed duration. Help pages specify actual delay adjustment. SPC - 29 June Adjusted the configuration dialog so that control labels are not disabled in Archive regraph and are disabled when governing controls are unchecked. SPC - 29 June Added error checking to the m_duration adjustment to ensure that the duration does not fall below 1 second. SPC - 29 June Version Set to Version for release. SPC - 16 January Removed all references to Office '97 - SPC - 24 January

25 Version Set to Version for to match major Vision version. SPC - 26 February Added the Admin Info button and handler. SPC - 21 July Added Vision Version and Vision compile date to all exporting. SPC - 21 July Set to Version to reflect changes. SPC - 21 July Added the Respond to Nesting Branch Reset control. SPC - 3 August Set to Version to reflect changes. SPC - 3 August Added Test Definition Graphing output. SPC - 28 October Set to Version to reflect changes. SPC - 28 October Version Set to Version for to match major Vision version. SPC - 5 November Version Set to Version for to match major Vision version. SPC - 11 January Version Set to Version for to match major Vision version. SPC - 8 June