YSI Data Scout Advanced - Manual (Page 24)

There are only four General Options in this selection. All these persistent options are remembered in the DSAdv.ini file when saved
(i.e. when Data Scout Advanced is closed). The first three options many be entered by clicking its text box and typing in a full path
name (including a file name for the first two options, but not the last). However, to avoid typing such long strings, double-click each
text box to open a dialog window that allows the user to navigate to the disk drive to locate the desired path. The fourth option is a
simple check box that enables or disables writing of the System Log file. Click Cancel instead of OK to exit the window without saving
any changes made.
The first option specifies a favorite text editor to be used by Data Scout Advanced whenever the user needs to view any plain text
(report or data) files created by Data Scout Advanced. The default program is NotePad if this field is unspecified (blank). To use an
alternate text editor, enter the full path and file name of its .exe file. See section 2.6.1 for more details.
The second option specifies where the Data Scout Advanced Operations Manual is installed. In the example above, the user has
installed the manual in the Manual subfolder of DSAdv. However, it could have been installed on a shared network drive. See section
2.1.1 for more details.
The third option specifies the Archive Base Path, where Data Scout Advanced will copy or move (for backup purposes) any of its
primary internal data and initialization files in subfolders of the Main Base Path. In this case, the user is specifying only a drive and
base path (no file name is specified). The final path shown in the option field must end with a backslash (\), which is normally added
automatically. See section 2.6.2 for more detail on selecting an Archive Base Path. See File | Archive Files (DSAdv) function in section
3.4.2 for using the selected Archive Base Path.
The fourth option enables or disable the writing of a System Log file that records every major event that Data Scout Advanced
generates (while the file is enabled). A new file (named SYS_<date>_<time>.log) is created and opened in the Cmd-log subfolder each
time this check box is checked. The file is closed either when the check box is unchecked, or when Data Scout Advanced is closed. If
Data Scout Advanced is closed with this option enabled, a new System Log file will be automatically created and opened when Data
Scout Advanced is restarted.
Whenever the System Log file is open, Data Scout Advanced checkpoints (closes, then reopens for “append”) this file, each time a
diagnostic event is written to it. This allows you to open and examine this file while Data Scout Advanced is running if you have a
good text editor (like EditPadPro) that can open the file for read while it is still open for writing by Data Scout Advanced. A simple
text editor like NotePad may not permit this, requiring you to close the file manually (using ‘Configure | General Options (DSAdv)’),
or exit Data Scout Advanced, before examining its contents. The following example listing shows the format of this file:
--- System 'Diagnostic' Log File: (All Xducers)
--- Using: DSAdv Version: 1.7.0
--- Updated: 02-07-2008 at 16:08:45
000000.000005 : 000.000005 Open Sys.Log File C:\YSI\DSAdv\Cmd-Log\SYS_2008-02-07_16-08-45.log
000000.002254 : 000.002249 Start DSAdv Main Form
000000.004273 : 000.002018 Starting Command Line:
000000.016889 : 000.012617 Com Ports found: [ COM1=Site COM3=Avail. ]
000000.102848 : 000.085959 timBlink = 0
000000.105482 : 000.002634 Standby: Opening Com Port 1... with Settings 19200,E,7,1 In CommXdcr
000001.120208 : 001.014725 timBlink = 1
000002.119484 : 000.999276 timBlink = 2
000002.329100 : 000.209617 Row 1 Clicked
000003.126235 : 000.797135 timBlink = 3
000004.049048 : 000.922813 !!Start Run Form
000004.207101 : 000.158053 timBlink = 4
000004.227164 : 000.020063 Show_Status (Run): STANDBY: Reading Data From Transducers
000004.231221 : 000.004057 !!Show_Splash_Msg: STANDBY: Getting Xducer Data >>> Reading Lock State && Oper.Mode of
Xducer #1.
000004.253212 : 000.021991 TCmd+Bk+Mk= [0U]
000004.367305 : 000.114093 TRsp= [0+1 ] bk=0.012013 mk=0.008064
000004.487095 : 000.119790 !!Show_Splash_Msg: STANDBY: Getting Xducer Data >>> Reading Pressure Units of Xducer #1.
000004.498853 : 000.011758 TCmd+Bk+Mk= [0XUP]
000004.609940 : 000.111086 TRsp= [00032 ] bk=0.012006 mk=0.008001
YSI Incorporated Data Scout Advanced 20