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CUSTOMIZATION
Customizing Your Instrument
The instrument provides powerful capability to add your
routines to the oscilloscope user interface without having to leave the instrument application environment. You
can customize the instrument to your needs by using the power of programs such as Excel™, Mathcad™, and
MATLAB™, or by scripting in VBS. Whichever method you use, the results appear on the instrument's display
together with the signals that you started with. This ability offers tremendous advantages in solving unique
problems for a large range of applications, with comparatively little effort from you.
CAUTION:
Accessing the oscilloscope's automation interface from within an XDEV custom processor (VBScript, Mathcad,
MATLAB, Excel, etc.) is NOT recommended.
Cases where the oscilloscope's behavior cannot be guaranteed, or worse, cases which can cause the
oscilloscope's software to crash include the following:
1. Changing "Upstream" Controls
'Upstream' controls are considered to be any control that, if changed, could provoke an infinite loop. An
example would be a VBScript processor, in F1, which uses C1 as a source. If this processor changes the
offset or vertical scale of C1 as a result of examining its input (C1) data, an infinite loop could occur. This
could eventually cause the oscilloscope software to crash. This is not limited only to changing upstream
channel controls, but includes any upstream processing also.
2. Accessing Other Results
Access to results (waveform, measurement, etc.), other than the scripting processor's own inputs, may
cause incorrect measurements. The reason for this is simple: the oscilloscope contains a complex algorithm
to determine in which order results are computed. This algorithm ensures that all inputs required by a
processor are computed before the processor itself. If a VBScript processor decides to access, via
automation, results other than those supplied to its inputs, the oscilloscope's dependency algorithm cannot
be used. Therefore, the results accessed may not be coherent (they may be from a previous acquisition, or
worse, could cause an infinite computation loop).
3. Reconfiguring Math or Measurements
Reconfiguring (adding or removing) Math and/or Measurements from within a custom processing function is
not recommended, especially when the reconfiguration would cause the custom processor to remove itself.
Introduction
Instrument customization provides these important capabilities:
•
You can export data to programs, without leaving the instrument environment.
•
You can get results back from those programs, and display them on the instrument, without leaving the
instrument application environment.
•
Once the result is returned, you can perform additional oscilloscope operations, such as measuring with
cursors, applying parameters, or performing additional functions on the waveform, in exactly the same way a
for a normal waveform.
•
You can program the oscilloscope yourself.
•
The instrument does not just provide connectivity with data downloads to other programs. It provides true
customizable interaction with these other programs, and allows you to truly customize the oscilloscope to do
the exact job you want it to do. The advantages to this are many:
•
You can use the standard processing power of the instrument to do most of your calculations
•
You only need to write the function, parameter, display algorithm, etc. that specifically applies to your need
and that the instrument doesn't contain.
WRXi-OM-E Rev C
own parameters, functions, display algorithms, or other
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