What Is Excel; What Is Mathcad; What Is Matlab; What Is Vbs - LeCroy WaveMaster 8600A Operator's Manual

does not require any additional software) to take advantage of the capability. You can think of these
functions as "subroutines" of the instrument's main software, which take in waveform data and
other variables like vertical scale and offset, and horizontal scale and offset. These functions then
return a waveform or a parameter as required. In addition, you can view the calculated data directly
in Excel, MATLAB, or Mathcad, if you desire.

What is Excel?

Excel is a program within Microsoft Office. With it you can place data in the cells of a spreadsheet,
calculate other values from them, prepare charts of many kinds, use mathematical and statistical
functions, and communicate with other programs in Office. From the instrument you can send data
to Excel (where processing can take place) and return the results to the instrument.

What is Mathcad?

Mathcad is a software package from MathSoft. It provides an integrated environment for performing
numerical calculations and solving equations, and communicating with other programs. Results
can be presented in tabular or graphical form.

What is MATLAB?

MATLAB is a software package from MathWorks that provides an environment for work in
computation and mathematics. An interactive language and graphics are provided.

What is VBS?

VBS is a programming language, but you don't write it in a special environment such as C++ or
Visual Basic; you write it within your own application. In the instrument, a few clicks or button
pushes will get you into an editing panel where you can write what you want. You cannot crash the
scope, or in any other way interfere with its workings, because the system is completely protected.
A product of Microsoft and a subset of Visual Basic, VBS can be learned very quickly if you have
some experience in any programming language. The VBS processing function can collect a
number of useful variables from the scope, including waveform data and useful variables such as
volts per division and time per division. The output from a script can be a waveform or a parameter,
and you can choose your own values for variables such as volts per division.
The idea of a VBS function is that you start with an input waveform, operate on some or all of the
values with a script, and show the result on a scope grid, like any other waveform.
VBScript customization is built into the instrument, so no additional programs need to be loaded to
take advantage of this capability.
The following diagrams were made by changing a small part, in some cases just one line, of a
standard VBScript. VBS is a well-known standard language, with excellent support documentation,
and it is easy to use in several different environments.
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