Biowave II / Lightwave II Print Via Computer (PVC) Manual Issue 1.1

Transcription

1 Biochrom Ltd Telephone: +44 (0) Cambridge Science Park Fax: +44 (0) Cambridge CB4 0FJ England Website: Biowave II / Lightwave II Print Via Computer (PVC) Manual Issue 1.1 Introduction PVC (Print Via Computer) is a small application running under Windows 2000 or Windows XP to enable a Biowave II or Lightwave II to transfer data into a PC environment. From there the user has a selection of choices; the data can be both printed or saved (in a variety of formats). PVC is capable of supporting several instruments simultaneously, limited only by hardware and the speed of the host system. PVC can operate via USB and Bluetooth simultaneously PVC can store data either to a common directory or be configured to save to independent directories. PVC can save data in graphics format, text format or as an Excel file Installation This manual assumes the PVC software has already been installed on the PC and that the instruments have been connected to the PC using USB or Bluetooth and a unique COM port assigned for each connection. It is recommended that instruments be connected before starting PVC. Starting PVC Double click the Print Via Computer icon either on the desktop or in the Programs/WPA/Print Via Computer Folder. A small icon will appear in the Tray area of the Windows tool bar. Double clicking on the icon will display the utility main window. Right clicking on the icon produces a pop-up menu allowing direct access to the main, Set up, Connections and Help windows as well as an Exit application option. The main PVC window is shown below: Page 1 of 7

2 Set up window Access the Set up window, from the main window, using the File Setup menu item or, from the tray icon, by right clicking on the icon and selecting the Setup item on the popup menu. The Setup window ports tab is shown above. This window displays all COM ports currently known to the PC. The user can select which ports will be polled to detect instruments. If the necessary COM ports for USB or Bluetooth operation have not been installed, PVC will not be able to communicate with the instrument(s). When PVC first discovers the existence of a port, it is set to disabled. Clicking on the appropriate State box in the table allows the user to select Auto mode, which then allows PVC to poll that particular port to see if an instrument is connected to it. The enabled condition is saved so that on subsequent application start ups and where the com port is rediscovered an instrument connection will automatically be attempted. Page 2 of 7

3 The Name field shows the name that will be shown on the main window instrument tab associated with an instrument connection. The setup window Export tab, see below, allows the user to define whether printing and saving of received data is done automatically or manually. The first column defines a list of activities that can be carried out when print data is received from a connected instrument. The second column selects whether that activity is carried out automatically (Auto) or must be requested from the menu (Manual). The third column defines where that data is stored or sent. The various activities are discussed in more detail below: Print: Prints the required data to the selected printer. Clicking on the selection box to the right of the third column displays the printer selection screen, displaying all printers connected to that PC. Page 3 of 7

4 Save: This determines where the received raw data from the instrument is stored (raw data is stored in files with a PVC extension). The selection box to the right of the fourth column allows the user to browse to an appropriate folder in which to store the data. Save to (file type): This facility provides the same function as the Save item described above but allows the user to specify different storage formats: EMF: Extended metafile (editable graphics format). RTF: Rich text format. An editable text format for use in Word and other word processor software packages CSV: Comma separated variables. A data format suitable for transfer to a variety of data handling systems XLS: Excel spreadsheet format. File name Prefix: Data files are stored with a name format based on the connected instrument serial number followed by the PC date and time in the form yyyy-mm-dd hh-mm-ss. This text field enables a prefix of up to 32 characters to be added to the front of the file name automatically to differentiate sets of data files more easily Title: Can be up to 32 characters long. This is added to the top line of any stored data Description: A free text field up to 256 characters long added below the Title field to any stored data Connections Access the Connections window, from the main window, using the Connection Display menu item or, from the tray icon, by right clicking on the icon and selecting the Connections item on the popup menu. This window shows the status of all connected instruments. A successfully connected instrument will be shown in the Initialized column as OK. Selecting one of connections shown and re-selecting the Connection menu on the main display allows the user to perform a number of Reconnect and Disconnect options. The options allow one or more units to be disconnected or reconnected. This can be useful where it is required to swap instrument conditions. Page 4 of 7

5 The connection menu also displays a Hold Channel selection that allows the user to freeze the instrument report window for the selected connection so that the data displayed in the respective main window tab is held. PVC will continue to collect data from that port in the background. Click on the item again to return to normal operation. Main Display Screen The main screen is shown automatically unless the application is configured to Run in Tray. To access the main screen from the tray icon right click on the icon and select the Display item on the popup menu. The main screen displays a series of tabbed windows. The first tab is named PVC File Viewer and allows the user to select and inspect stored PVC files via the File/Open menu item. Secondary tabs are generated automatically as instruments are detected on ports and connected to. The Tab name used is that shown in the Setup menu for that particular port connection. Page 5 of 7

6 At the bottom edge of the screen is a status bar. Entries are explained below: Port: This field shows the port name associated with an instrument connection. Hold: The next status field is normally empty but shows Hold when the Hold Channel option has been selected for this connection. Data waiting: Shows the number of data entities waiting to be processed. Generally shows 0 unless the Hold Channel option has been selected Data Collected: Shows the total number of data entities collected in this session Status: Shows the status of the print data document received from the instrument. Data is collected and held until a complete document has been collected or the instrument is switched off. NOTE: In some applications (e.g. Single Wavelength) documents are not closed until the user exits the application or switches the instrument off. This is because PVC tabulates the data under headings and does not display any results until all measurements have been made. Once a print document is closed PVC will display the information in report format. Menu items Display: (On the tray icon popup menu) displays the main display screen File/New: Only functional when the PVC File Viewer tab is selected. Clears displayed report data. File/Open: Only functional in the PVC File Viewer tab. Opens a, previously saved, PVC format report file File/Save as: Manually saves a selected document in PVC file format to the selected folder. File/Export: Manually saves the selected document in a specific format (EMF, RTF, CSV or XLS) to the select folder. File/Run in tray: Toggles tray icon mode on or off. Default is on when first installed but setting is saved with the user configuration. In tray icon mode PVC will open as a tray item and stay there when the PVC main window is closed File/Setup: (Setup on tray icon popup menu) Accesses Setup window see above. File/Print: Manually prints the viewed report File/Print Setup: Sets up the selected default printer and printer characteristics for the application File/Exit: (Exit on tray icon popup menu) Closes PVC in both main screen and tray Page 6 of 7

7 Connection/Display: (Connections on tray icon popup menu) Access connections display see above. Help/About: (About on tray icon popup menu) Application version number information Page 7 of 7