APPNOTE: Skipping unnecessary steps in the Playback process.

Last reviewed: May 24, 2005
Article ID: 050224sab

The information in this article applies to:

Pronto for Windows all versions.
Note that some customisation options are not present in older versions.

TARGET AUDIENCE.

This article is aimed at:

All Users of Pronto for Windows.

SUMMARY.

When the data in a Logger is played back to Pronto for Windows, various dialogs and message boxes are presented allowing the user to specify the details of any actions they do or do not want Pronto to perform. For those parts of the Playback process that will always be the same for a particular user, the user can specify what action Pronto should take and reduce the number of steps during Playback.

PLAYBACK PROCESS.

The default Playback and graphing process consists of the following steps:

1) Select the Logger to Playback from and start Playback.

2) Select YES or NO in answer to Stop recording for Playback ?

3) Wait for data transfer to complete

4) Select YES or NO in answer to Playback completed, Erase Logger memory ?

5) Select YES or NO in answer to Set Logger clock to computer time ?

6) Select YES or NO in answer to Start recording ?

7) On the Select Project for Playback Data dialog a) Choose the location where the data should be saved b) Ensure the Graph after saving data check box is set c) Click on Autosave.

8) On the Graph New Data dialog a) If required, select any data you do not wish to graph and click on Do not graph b) If required, select any data you wish to graph and change how it is graphed by clicking on Graph Using c) Click on OK.

9) On each of the Graph Assistant pages 1 to 6 a) Make any changes you wish to the format or data displayed on the Graph b) click on next (or Finish).

CUSTOMISATION AVAILABLE FOR EACH STEP.

Step 1, Selecting the Logger to Playback from and starting Playback.

If you only have a single Logger use the TOOLS-OPTIONS menu command and the LOGGER tab, set the checkbox, Always connect to and select the Logger from the List.

Step 2, Skipping Stop Recording for Playback message.

If you always answer YES here, use the TOOLS-OPTIONS menu command and the LOGGER tab, set the checkbox, Automatically stop recording for playback.

Step 4, Skipping Playback completed, Erase Logger memory message.

If you always answer YES here, use the TOOLS-OPTIONS menu command and the LOGGER tab, set the checkbox, Always erase memory after playback.

Step 5, Skipping Set Logger clock to computer time message.

If you always answer YES here, use the TOOLS-OPTIONS menu command and the LOGGER tab, set the checkbox, Always set Logger clock after Playback. Bear in mind that the time keeping in the Logger is more accurate than most computers. If, however, your computer has its time synchronised to a Internet time server or is kept accurate by some other means, then it is appropriate to set this option.

Step 6, Skipping Start Recording message.

If you always answer YES here, use the TOOLS-OPTIONS menu command and the LOGGER tab, set the checkbox, Always start recording after Playback.

Step 7, Skipping Select Project for Playback Data dialog.

If you want Pronto always to save data into a specific location you can skip this dialog by performing the following steps:

1) Use the TOOLS-OPTIONS menu command and the DECODE tab, set the checkbox, Always save to the default Project if specified.

2) Use the LOGGER-ADDRESS BOOK menu command, then on the Logger Address Book dialog
a) Select the Logger for which you wish to skip the Select Project for Playback Data dialog,
b) Click on Edit.

3) On the Edit an existing Logger Address dialog,
a) If you simply want all the data from a Logger to go into the same Project, click on the button marked Browse (to the right of the Project File box).
b) Alternatively consider using an AUTONAME for the default project, click on the button marker Autonames ( to the right of the MDM File box).

4) If you chose (a) in step 3 then on the Select Default Project File dialog,
a) Browse to, then select the default Project file for this Logger.
b) Click on Open.

5) If you chose (b) in step 3 then on the Autonaming dialog,
a) Enter the AUTONAME you want Pronto to use to build the default Project file for this Logger.
b) Click on OK.
For full instructions on Autonames click on the Help button on this dialog (or press F1).

6) Back on the Edit an existing Logger Address dialog,
a) click on OK to save the changes then click on Close to close the Logger Address Book dialog.

Step 8, Customising the Graph New Data dialog.

If you always want Pronto to graph the data using the defaults rather than displaying the Graph Assistant, use the TOOLS-OPTIONS menu command and the DECODE tab.
a) Set the checkbox, Graph decoded data after it is saved.
b) Select the option, On a new view using the default settings.

If you want to graph the data in a particular format or with specific data streams (channels) shown you can avoid having to repeat all the formatting commands by following these steps:

    x) The first time you download a new type of data, graph it as normal and apply any formatting that you wish to use again.
    y) When you are happy with the format of the View, Use the FILE-SAVE AS TEMPLATE command to create a new template.
    z) The next time you download data that you want to presented in the same way, wait until you get to the Graph New Data dialog then click on the Graph using button and select the template you created previously, Pronto will create a new View that displays your new data in the format saved with the template.

Step 9, Skipping Graph Assistant pages.

If you set option (b), On a new view using the default settings above, then the Graph assistant is not shown. Alternatively you may click Finish on any point to skip all remaining steps.

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