Chapter 7 - Numeric window

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The Numeric window displays the trace data as columns of numbers.

The Toolbar’s button views the Numeric window if it is hidden. The "Window > Numeric" menu item also views the Numeric window.


Window areas

 
Window areas
 


 

Toolbar area
The toolbar area contains the quick-action list box plus the Numeric window's local toolbar.

The quick-actions available in the the drop-down list are...

  • Reset all column widths- Resets the columns to their minimum width.
  • Delete all columns - Removes all columns so that no channel groups are displayed.
  • View all channel groups - Blanks the window then inserts a column for each channel group.
  • Edit all columns... - Similar to clicking on a column's setup button except the changes affect all columns. Useful for changing all columns to the same base, channel group, or color.
  • Edit all data views... - Displays trace data in all columns, reference data, or several combinations of these two including the trace vs. reference comparison.

The local toolbar buttons are...

  Inserts a new column left of the selected column. Click once on the setup buttons to select a column.
  Deletes the selected column. Click once on the setup buttons to select a column.
  Edits the Numeric window options. The selected options are unique to each Numeric window copy.
  Select the active mouse mode. This defines the behavior when the left and right mouse buttons are clicked in the data area. The following mouse modes are supported in the Numeric window...
   
  • Move active marker pair. Three marker-pairs are available for making measurements. Click the left mouse button to move the first marker in the active pair. Click the right mouse button to move the second marker in the active pair.
  • Drag-scroll mode. The click and drag the left mouse button on the trace data to scroll the data up, down, left, or right. Click the right mouse button to quickly return to the active marker pair mouse mode.
Setup area
The setup area contains a button for each column in the window. The setup buttons are used to configure each column.
 
Each setup button can be sized to adjust the associated column's width. Move the mouse over a setup button's right edge. When the mouse cursor changes to the horizontal resize icon, click and hold the mouse button. Drag the button width horizontally and release the mouse button at the desired width.  

Click on the column setup buttons to select which data is displayed (trace, reference, trace vs reference), what channel groups is display, the text color, and so forth...
 

This displays the column setup dialog box...


Viewing trace data


Viewing timestamps

 


 

  • Data - Choose the "Trace Data", "Reference Data", "Trace vs. Reference", "Reference vs. Trace" options to display the associated data. "Trace vs. Reference" compares the Trace and Reference data. The trace data is displayed and differences from the reference data are highlighted. Likewise, the "Reference vs. Trace" option displays the reference data and highlights differences from the trace data.
  • Base - Defines the numeric base for the group values. If a symbol table is loaded into the selected channel group, the "Symbol" and "Symbol+offset" bases are also available. The group values are replaced by symbol matches where possible using this base.
  • Color - Choose the text color. The "more..." button allows you to define custom colors.
  • Channel group - Select the channel group to display which was defined earlier in the Setup window. If you forgot to create a channel group, you can either return to the Setup window or click the "New channel group wizard..." button and define the group from the Numeric window.
  • Apply changes - Copies the changes to the Numeric setup but leaves the dialog box open. You can then single-click on a different setup button to configure a new column. Configuring several columns this way is faster than opening a closing the dialog box for each column.
  • Done - Copies the changes to the Numeric setup and exits the dialog box.

The 9 "basic" colors automatically adjust to the pale or dark background colors. The software uses pale versions of these colors when a dark background is used. Likewise, the software uses dark versions when a pale background is used. This feature is very convenient if you open projects file from someone using a different background color.

However, custom colors do NOT adjust to pale or dark background colors. Opening a project file with custom colors may require the channel group colors to be adjusted. Alternatively, you can change your background color to something more compatible with the custom group colors.
 

When the activity indicators are enabled via the "Data > Activity indicators" menu command, the setup area grows taller to accommodate the channel activity.

In this example, "?" characters indicate that the hexadecimal digit has at least one bit which is changing. Changing bits are indeterminate.

Finally, the setup buttons supports drag-n-drop to arrange the numeric columns.
Move the mouse over a column’s setup button then press and hold the left mouse button until the column is "lifted".
   
Drag the mouse horizontally to the line's desired insertion point.
   
Release the mouse button to drop the line at its new location.
Hold down the Control key while dragging to copy the column instead of moving it.
 
Data area
 
The data area displays the captured trace data.

If all the columns do not fit in the window, a horizontal scroll bar is displayed which scrolls the columns.

If all the trace and reference data does not fit in the data area, a vertical scroll bar is displayed which scrolls the data...
 

The button scrolls to the previous bookmark. The button scrolls to the previous sample. The button scrolls to the next sample. The button scrolls to the next bookmark. The bookmark buttons are only displayed if one or more bookmarks exist in the project. See Chapter 9 - Measurements for details on adding and using bookmarks in your project.

The click-n-scroll icons are convenient for quickly scrolling to a specific marker or bookmark. All markers and bookmarks are visible here since the scroll bar represents all currently open data.

The current view indicator is similar to a standard scroll bar's drag button. You can drag the view indicator up and down to scroll through the data. However, the GoLogic's custom trace scroll bar also indicates what data is currently visible in the window. The top edge of the bracket represents the top edge of the visible data area. Likewise, the bottom edge of the bracket represents the bottom edge of the visible data area. As the number of samples changes, the view indicator grows taller and shorter. The view indicator height remains constant if so many samples are captured that it becomes too short to be useful.
 

When the mouse mode is active, click the left and right mouse buttons in the data area to move the active marker pair and make timing measurements. See Chapter 9 - Measurements for tips on using the markers effectively.

When the mouse mode is active, click and drag the left mouse button in the data area to scroll the data vertically and horizontally.
Window options
Click the local toolbar button to customize each Numeric window’s behavior...


Window options


 
These options affect the window display and the text file export...
  • Scrolling - Scrolling with other data windows causes all data windows not scroll independently to update as this window scrolls. Scrolling independently causes scroll commands to only affect this window.
  • Use X pixels space between columns - This places extra space between columns.
  • Show time between markers measurement - The time between the marker pairs is painted in the measurement area.
  • Show entire time stamp resolution - Normally, time measurements choose the best units (ps, ns, us, ms, etc) and only two digits past the decimal are displayed. Check this option to force all significant digits past the decimal to be displayed.

These options affect the text file export...

  • Minimize file size - A single tab character is used between columns rather than spaces. No column labels are included. Sample numbers are also omitted.
  • Omit sample numbers - No sample numbers are included in the text file.
  • Force all time-units to be the same - All time values use the selected units.
 
Exporting to text files
The "File > Export > Numeric to text file..." and "File > Export > Numeric to CSV file..." menu commands save the Numeric window’s display to a text file. Exporting to a text file allows the trace data to be loaded into most analysis and spreadsheet programs.


Exporting to text files

The text file’s format matches the Numeric window’s setup. The text is arranged in columns using the Numeric window’s column setup.

Since many analysis and spreadsheet programs only read decimal numbers, the columns should be set to the decimal base before saving the text file. Select the Numeric Columns... item under the Edit Change All... menu to change all the columns to the decimal base.

The text file size depends on the number of characters in each column, the number of columns, and the number of samples in the data. Text files larger than 50 Mbytes can be produced when exporting large trace files. To minimize the text file size, delete unneeded columns from the Numeric window and use the hexadecimal base for all columns if possible.

 
Dual Numeric windows
Check the "Window > Enable Numeric #2" menu command to view a second Numeric window. Uncheck this menu item to display only one Numeric window.


Dual windows

Each Numeric window has an setup database. This allows each window to display different data and/or channels. When you first activate the second Numeric window, the new window uses the same setup as the first window.

Likewise, each window can be configured to scroll independently or synchronously with the other data windows. Use the window options to change this option as needed.

 
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