APPNOTE: Get started using TermView.exe, the Ranger text terminal utility.
APPNOTE: Get started using TermView.exe, the Ranger text terminal utility.Last reviewed: May 13, 2008
Article ID: 080206sab
The information in the article applies to:
This article is aimed at:
TermView.exe is a utility that runs under Windows and provides a text terminal optimised for use with the text interface in the Loggers. This guide provides instruction for launching the utility and connecting to a Ranger Power-Master Logger.
The Ranger Power Master Data-Loggers provide a basic text interface as well as the Modbus interface used by Pronto for Windows, PmScreen and other utilities. The text interface provides low level diagnostic, setup and calibration functions.
Inappropriate use of the Text command interface may cause loss or corruption of recorded data, either saved or in progress. Some commands will cause the loss or corruption of the system calibration requiring a return to the factory for repair.
It is not recommended that end users access the text interface on the Logger except under the guidance of technical support staff.
To launch TermView.exe select START then ALL PROGRAMS - PRONTO FOR WINDOWS
and the icon for TermView.exe will be seen on the menu.
If an icon for TermView.exe
is not present, select START then RUN, click on BROWSE and browse to the location
where Pronto for Windows was installed, by default this is <C:\PRONTO4W>
or <C:\PROGRAM FILES\PRONTO4W>. Select TermView.exe and click OPEN. Finally
on the RUN dialog click on OK, this will open the window shown below.
To open a connection to COM1 to 9
1) Click on the PORT
menu and select the port to which your Logger is connected from the drop down
menu.
To open a connection to another port
1) Click on the
PORT menu and select the item OTHER PORT.
2) On the Set
COM Port dialog, type in the name of the Port or click on SEARCH and then
select the port from the drop down list.
3) Click on OK
to open the port.
To set a standard Baud rate
1) Click on the PORT menu
and select the rate you wish to use, you may also use these 
.buttons
on the toolbar to step up or down through the standard baud rates.
To set another baud rate
1) Click on the
PORT menu and select the item OTHER BAUD.
2) On the Set
COM baud rate dialog, type in the baud rate you wish to use or select a
standard baud rate from the drop down list.
3) Click on OK
to set the baud rate.
Note that it is possible to enter a baud rate that is not supported by the hardware, in this case either an error message is given or the closest supported baud rate is used instead (without any error being shown).
See also: APPNOTE: Recommended baud rates for different Loggers
TermView Release 3.0 includes support for connection to TCP/IP ports.
To open a connection to a TCP/IP port:
1) Click on the
PORT menu and select the item OTHER PORT.
2) On the Set
COM Port dialog, enter the name of the server and the number of the port
to connect to in the form <server>:<port>
Examples:
192.168.1.3:23 TermView will open port 23 on the server whose IP address is 192.168.1.3
\\johndoe:502 TermView will open port 502 on the server whose name is johndoe
\\www.pronto4w.com:123 TermView will open port 123 on the server whose name is www.pronto4w.com
When a Logger has been running off its internal battery for a short
period it will power down to conserve power.
The Logger must power up and
complete its start-up process before it will respond to serial commands.
All
Loggers will wake up when the charger is applied or AC Line power is present
on V1 (phase A).
If the batteries are NOT exhausted then the Logger
will also wake up after one of the following events.
For the PM3000 and PM6000
1) Press on the touch screen.
2)
Send any serial traffic, for example a series of carriage
returns.
For the PM7000
1) Open the lid.
2) Connect
to the Bluetooth Port.
3) Send any traffic to
either the Bluetooth or USB port.
For the PM1000 and PM2000
1) Send a wake up
sequence of bytes. To do this from within TermView, from the TESTS menu select
SEND WAKEUP or click on the 
button on the toolbar (PM1000 and PM2000 only).
A Logger has two modes of operation for its serial interface, Text mode and
Modbus mode. To switch a Logger into Text mode and obtain the command prompt, from the TESTS menu select
the item SET TEXT MODE, you may also click on the 
button on the
toolbar.
The Logger will reply with (assuming it is a PM3000):
Slave 01 in text mode.
PM3000>
Once the Logger is in Text mode you may obtain the prompt by simply pressing return (which sends a <carriage return (CR)><line feed (LF)> pair).
The Logger will switch out of text mode and go to "Modbus" mode
following any of these events:
1) upon reception of its own prompt i.e. the
string "PM3000> "
2) upon reception of "OK" followed
by a <CR><LF> pair.
3) upon reception of a valid Modbus packet.
When the Logger is in Modbus mode echo is turned off and further text commands are ignored.
TermView.exe can be started from the command line and made to connect to
one or more specified serial port.
These examples show the syntax and options available.
They assume that Pronto for Windows was installed into the folder "c:\pronto4w".
To start TermView on COM1 at 115200 baud 2 stop bits and no parity:
>c:\pronto4w\TermView.exe "COM1:115200,N,8,2"
this alternative syntax also works
>c:\pronto4w\TermView.exe "COM1: baud=115200 parity=N data=8 stop=2"
as does this syntax:>c:\pronto4w\TermView.exe COM1:
In
this case the baud rate, parity, data and stop bits will be those used the last time TermView.exe was open.
To open two ports at once use the command:>c:\pronto4w\TermView.exe "COM2:115200,N,8,2" "COM1:115200,N,8,2"
The order in which the windows are opened is the same as the order in which they appear on the line i.e. in this example COM2 first followed by COM1.
APPNOTE: Utilities Installed with Pronto for Windows.
Last reviewed: May 13, 2008
© 2008 Outram Research Ltd. All rights reserved.