CAPTURING A VM700T SCREEN DISPLAY with VMTWIN

Transcription

1 CAPTURING A VM700T SCREEN DISPLAY with VMTWIN The basic steps for doing a capture of a waveform (or other graphic display types) from the VM700T, using the VMTWIN software, is discussed and illustrated in the following steps and pictures. The beginning assumption for this set of steps is that you already have A. manually configured the VM700T front panel controls and are displaying the exact image that you want to capture. B. connected a PC, launched the VMTWIN application, have achieved VMTWIN to VM700T connection and you have the desired image displayed. Note When VMTWIN first connects to the VM700T, the VM700T will usually go to a default Waveform mode. If your desired image is other than the default Waveform mode, one of the easier methods to get the displayed image back to what you want it to be may be to create a function of that specific set-up before launching and connecting VMTWIN. Once VMTWIN has launched, it is then a simple matter to type the playback command, and its argument, into the VMTWIN terminal view area which will recall the function you created. (For example playback test1 ) There are many other ways to navigate to a particular display setting using the VMTWIN controls. Some are easy and obvious (using the menu buttons and the pull-down menu tools. Some are much more obscure. Consult the Help pull-down for some extra guidance. So, let s go to the actual capture process

2 1. Using the Edit pull-down menu tool, select Screen Capture/Print

3 2. A new Screen Capture Dialog box will appear.

4 3. In the File Name text box, enter a simple file name that you will remember. Use simple text and numbers. No spaces and no unusual punctuation. And, no file extension. In the example below, test1 was typed in.

5 4. Select the Capture to File button. The capture process will take perhaps as much as seconds depending on the complexity of the graphic element being captured, the VM700T/PC baud rate and other factors. During this operation, you will also note that the Copy button on the VM700T is illuminated. When the Capture to File process has completed, the Copy button LED will extinguish and the text in the File Name box will be automatically updated with a.elq file extension. (Do not change this extension.) You can now close the Screen Capture Dialog box using the upper right X tool provided. Your waveform image has been stored to your PC.

6 The next set of steps provides a means of viewing the stored waveform, and then converting it to a more conventional bitmap format that most PCs can readily use. 5. To view the stored image, use the File pull-down menu tool (at the top of the VMTWIN GUI). Select File Open A conventional file navigation box will appear. 6. Navigate to the Windows Program folder where the VMTWIN.exe is stored (and running). Select Files of Type to be All Files (*.*) in order to make all folder contents visible. VMTWIN may store your captured image at the VMTWIN base folder, or it may store the captured image in a subdirectory within this folder (often the Connection Name). The exact folder location is not always perfectly predictable, but is very easy to find by navigating up or down one level or two. Just look for the exact file name that was shown at the completion of step 4. (test1.elq in this example)

7 7. Select the file of interest and click on the Open button. Your image will be displayed, similar to the picture below, but with the image content that you specifically captured. At this point it is important to visually verify that a good screen capture was achieved. (the image is complete, no broken lines, no distorted text, etc.)

8 8. If you are satisfied with the image capture results, simply close this picture with the upper right red X closure tool provided. Before the image closes, you will be automatically be presented with another dialog box that asks if you want to save changes to a.bmp file. (See picture below.) In most all cases, select the Yes button. The picture image view will automatically close, and a new file will be automatically created in the same directory where your.elq file resides. The new file will have the same name, but with the.bmp extension. It will now be available to open, print and otherwise manipulate with most all conventional Windows tools (Paint, Word, etc.) wcb/0509 Tektronix, Inc.