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ScopeView | Signals Window & Data Source Selection



Users must configure a series of items before starting data acquisition. For example, you must select the signals to acquire, the corresponding mathematical operations to perform, and specify the number of acquisitions. 


From the Signals Form below, four areas are accessible:

  • The Command buttons area
  • The Available signals listing area
  • The Signal processing options
  • The Selected signals listing area


Signal Form Window


Signals Form Menus


In the following figure, the File and Edit menus have the same functions as already described.

ScopeView - Signals form


View Menu

Toolbar

Shows or hides the various menus from the Toolbar.

Advanced Function Editor


Displays the advanced mathematical functions in editor mode. 


Signals form in Advance Function Editor mode

Data Source Menu

Data source menu

Load


See also FPGA Scope for using the Data Sources Chooser with this source.

See also, below on this page: ScopeView | Signals Window & Data Source Selection




Displays the Data Sources Chooser window and allows the user to load a particular plot file or signals from RT-LAB's sensors. Users may also select a file, RT-LAB, TestView or the DataLogger as data sources.

REPLACEDisplays the Data Sources Chooser window and allows the user to replace (delete the previous if any) and load a new file.
The Data Sources Chooser window displays a Replace button instead of the Load button.
RELOAD ALLReload the plot file already loaded when new sensors had been added in your HYPERSIM simulation as per example.
REMOVE ALLRemove all the data sources already loaded.

Graph Menu


Graph menu

Plot Signals


Traces the graphs from the selected signals displayed in the area of the selected signal of the Signals window.
This menu item is the same command as the Plot icon on the toolbar or the Start button at the top of the window.

ACCESSIBLE AREAS

COMMAND BUTTONSThe first group of buttons at the left of the window are the usual functions from MS Windows.
The button gives you access to mathematical functions. (The access is duplicated at the far right middle of the window).
The Start button tells ScopeView to trace the selected signals in the graphic page area.
AVAILABLE SIGNALS AREAThis area gives a detailed list of the available signals from the selected data source file displayed in the small window beside the Data Source button.
SELECTED SIGNALS AREAThis section displays the description of the selected signals to be plotted on each graphic page and the mathematical functions applied to the same signals.
SIGNAL PROCESSINGThis area has a selection of functions modifying the graphic page area when ScopeView plots the selected signals.
The Signals form allows you to specify the signals to acquire and the corresponding mathematical operations to apply. The data source file is generated by the active simulation software, i.e. EMTP-RV.
You can also open a previously saved source file.
The Data Source... button reveals a menu (same menu as the one displayed by the Data Source item on the toolbar). From that menu, select the option you need.

Data Source Chooser and Signal Selection

Users can select various data sources through the Data Sources Chooser dialogue found in the Data Source menu.

Data source menu

Clicking Data Source > Load opens the Data Sources Chooser dialogue.

Users can choose from the following options, shown below:

  • A File, to which they'll navigate
  • An RT-LAB source
  • A TestView source
  • a DataLogger source

File tab

RT-LAB tab

DataLogger tab




Data Source Chooser > File

ScopeView can acquire data from many source types. Browse these if required through Data Source Chooser > File > Files of type.


EMTP (*.m, *.pl4)The EMTP source imports signals saved previously in an .m, or .pl4, file, generated by the EMTP simulation software
MATLAB (*.mat)
  • The MATLAB source is used to import signals saved previously in a .mat file generated by the MATLAB processing software
  • The .mat file must contain a list of vectors with at least one of these vectors representing the abscissa (or time axis)
COMTRADE (*.cfg, *.cff)The COMTRADE source imports signals saved previously in a .cfg or .cff file generated under the COMTRADE format
SPREADSHEET (*.txt, *.csv)SPREADSHEET exports files of types .csv (comma-separated variables) or .txt (plain text), usually exported from Excel
PSCAD files (*.inf)PSCAD imports .inf files
OPAL-RT DATA RECORD files (*.oprec)OPAL-RT DATA RECORD files import OPAL-RT data recording files with the suffix .oprec.
SMCT files

To load previously saved sources, click the file you want:

  • Select the signal type tab (EMTP, Matlab, etc.)
  • Select the file format for the type of work station you are using, PC or UNIX
  • Click the Load button. (The Load button moves the files to the area of the available signal.)
  • Below the loaded Data Source box is the Signal Type identification.

Data Source Chooser > RT-LAB

When using the RT-LAB option of the Data Source Chooser dialogue:

  • Select the Projects from the pull-down, or click the Refresh button to refresh the list
  • Select the Models from the pull-down
  • Enter any Acq Groups required in the corresponding text boxes
  • Click Load to load the HYPERSIM data source

Data Source Chooser > DataLogger

See also FPGA Scope.

When using the DataLogger option of the Data Source Chooser dialogue:

  • Either type the target name or IP address in the Target text box and click Fetch Signal Groups to select one
  • Click Load to load the dataLogger data source

Signal Selection

  • From the pull-down list, select the type of signal you want to study. The list corresponds to the sensors installed in your simulation software or the usable Database.
    • Users can select files from the Loaded Data Source box (scroll-down-list) in order to display or delete them.
    • Users can also remove a single file or Remove All the files from the list and, finally the user can reload all or replace a file.
  • Remember, it is possible to study signals from two or more different sources at the same time.

Signal Processing


Below the Available Signals area, six cells and one button are present.

Signal Selection Mode

  • Single: Any selected (mouse click) signal will move automatically to the Selected signals list.
  • Multiple: Click the signals you want then click the Add Signals button to add signals to the Selected Signals. Multiple selections are possible by clicking and holding the CTRL-key.
  • The Add Signals button shows only when the multiple option is selected.

Graph Creation

  • Normal: ScopeView displays one signal per graph.
  • Superimposed: ScopeView displays two or more traces in the same graph (depending on how many signals you have selected.
X AXIS | Grid or LogScopeView displays, according to the ticked box, either a graph with/without a grid. The other option displays a linear/logarithmic graph on the X-axis.

Y AXIS | Grid or Log

ScopeView displays, according to the ticked box, either a graph with/without a grid. The other option displays a linear/logarithmic graph on the Y-axis.
PAGESelect the page number to display the selected signal.
FUNCTION
  • From the pull-down list select the function you want to apply to the selected signal. The list contains simple functions (one signal per argument).
  • Advanced functions are available by clicking one of the buttons.
  • When Multiple Signal Selection Mode is used, this button will add the selected signals to the list at the bottom part of the Selected Signal area.

Selected Signals

This area shows all the selected signals and their description. The two right-hand columns are used to display or not the result on the page of your choice.
By default the Signal column displays and confirms the selection of different signals.

  • To edit a signal, click on its cell, type in your changes and, hit <ENTER>. You must press <ENTER> to commit the changes or <ESC> to cancel. Either of these actions will return user to the default mode.
  • The Description column shows the signal description (often the same as the signal name under the Signal column.
  • The Show column, when “ticked” , the signal will be acquired and displayed in ScopeView.
  • In the Page column, the number written under this column tells ScopeView on what page to display the result from that signal.
  • The numbered column at the far left is used to show the background edit menu. Right-click the line you want to edit.

Split Screen Option


Scope View offers a split-screen option to ease the multiple data source use. Simply click the mouse in the Signals area to see the background menu. You can split the area either horizontally or vertically. To revert to a single screen, click on Close View. Below is an example of a horizontally split screen from the data sources loaded in two sections.

Signals form in split window option


Removing a Source


The Remove button enables you to remove the current source or the Remove All button removes all the sources files from the scroll list.

To remove file(s) from the active list, display the source file you want to remove in the Loaded Data source file list;
Display the Data Source menu, and click on the Remove current data source item.
Or click on the Remove All button if desired.
If some formulas contain signals from a removed source, ScopeView displays a message asking to confirm this action. If you confirm, the formulas affected by the removal are automatically withdrawn from the list of formulas to evaluate.

Replacing a Source


The Replace button is used to change the characteristics of a source. This action is useful when you want to keep evaluating the same formulas, but with signals from a different source. The only restriction to replace a source is that the list of available signals should be the same.

  • To replace a source, in the Signal Form window, display the Data source menu;
  • Click on the source to change, select the Replace item.

ScopeView makes sure that the changes you make follow the replacement criteria. Otherwise, it refuses to execute the requested action.

inserting a Function


The Signals section allows you to insert a new signal or function to the list of Selected Signals to evaluate.

Advanced Functions


To apply an advanced function to a signal, click the name of the signal;

  • Select the category of function you want to apply to a signal (or select All to see all the available functions;
  • In the Function Name drop list, select a function;
  • Click the Add Function button.

Signal form in advanced function option

Simple Function


The Simple Function (far right of the ScopeView – Signals form) section allows you to specify the mathematical operations to apply to the signals you select in the list of available signals.

You can also configure other characteristics such as:

absabsolute value
acosarc cosine
asinarc sine
atanarc tangent
coscosine
denspspectral density
derivderivative
integintegral
i2Tintegral Time reverse sequence
loglogarithm
log10logarithm base 10
minminimum
maxmaximum
moyaverage
rmsroot mean square
sinsine
sqrtsquare root
tantangent


To apply a simple function to a signal, select the mathematical function to be applied to a signal using the menu related to the Function item.

Select a signal; Click Add Signals button.

List of Formulae to Evaluate


The Selected Signals area contains the list of formulas to evaluate during the acquisition. Each line in the list describes a signal (and a function in some cases) to evaluate and specifies characteristics such as:

  • Description
  • Show
  • Page

Initially, ScopeView displays the results in a graphic page corresponding to their appearance order in the list of Selected Signals. After a first acquisition, you can change the display order by displacing the graphs interactively.
The Selected Signal field specifies a formula to evaluate. A new formula can be generated automatically by ScopeView or built manually.


To insert a new formula automatically, click the selected source in the Data Source list;

  • Click the signal you want in the list of Signals
  • Select the processing to be applied from the pull-down list under Function to apply
  • To edit manually a formula, click in the Formula field of the formula to edit
  • Type the formula
  • If this formula reuses a signal from another formula, you can then enter manually the identifier that was assigned to it by ScopeView. However, if the formula contains signals, which are not yet part of other formulas, you must insert them as follows to allow ScopeView to assign an identifier to each new signal
  • Click the selected source in the list of Data Sources
  • Click the Multiple Signal Selection Mode and the function to be applied from the pull-down list under Simple Function to apply
  • Click the name of the chosen signal in the list of Signals.

ScopeView has a formula interpreter to evaluate complex formulas. This interpreter supports the following operators and functions:

  • Standard arithmetic operators (+, -, *, /, ** or ^, vs)
  • Assigning in one or many variables that can be reused by other formulas
  • Standard mathematical functions (sine, cosine, logarithm, etc.)
  • Internal functions for spectral analysis (spectral density, frequency response, etc.)
  • TYRAN functions (calculation of module and phase for a symmetric integral component, etc.
  • External functions for signal processing (calculation of fundamental frequency, harmonics, digital filters, etc.
DESCRIPTIONYou can specify in the Description field the description to identify the result of the formula during graphic display.
ScopeView automatically generates a default description when inserting a new formula. This description consists of an abbreviation representing the mathematical operation applied to the signal and the signal name (or signals) selected.
SHOWThe Show checkmark box specifies to ScopeView if it must display the formula result in a graph.
ScopeView automatically selects this item when a signal or a function is inserted from the list of Signals.
If you build manually a formula and you select this item, ScopeView will automatically initialize at 1 the Page field for the formula. You can change this page number if you wish.
PAGEThe Page field specifies the destination graphic page for the formula.

Editing the List of Formulae

The list of signals can be edited to change the display order of the formulas or to delete them from the list.
You can edit the list of formulas either using the menu associated with the Edit menu, or the background menu associated with the scroll list. This menu allows executing the following commands:

  • To select one signal only, click the far left column beside the required signal.
  • Select all to select all the formulas.
  • Select none to unselect all the formulas.
  • Cut selected formulas and save them in the buffer
  • Copy selected formulas in the buffer
  • Paste to add to the list formulas from the buffer
  • Delete remove selected formulas without affecting the content of the buffer
CUTTo cut one or more formulas, move your cursor to the far left column and right-click to display the background menu.
Click Cut.
COPYTo copy one or more formulas, move your cursor to the far left column and right-click to display the background menu.
Select the Copy option from the Edit menu.
PASTETo paste the content of the buffer, move your cursor to the far left column and right-click to display the background menu.
Select to paste the contents of the buffer.
DELETETo delete one or more formulas, move your cursor to the far left column and right-click to display the background menu.
Select the Delete option from the background menu.

Templates

In order to accelerate the configuration of repetitive and identical acquisitions from one session to another, ScopeView allows you to save and retrieve the information on the formulas to evaluate.
The following information is contained in a template acquisition:

  • List of sources used
  • Acquisition numbers
  • List of signals to acquire
  • List of formulas to evaluate
  • Editing information (number of columns, superimposition, zoom, etc.)

Opening a Template


You can load a previously saved template acquisition by selecting the button or the Open Template... item in the File menu. The software displays the form to select the file to open. The scroll list allows navigating in the file tree-structure.

Open template window


To load a template acquisition, click on the button or from the File menu click on Open Template...

Acquisition Parameters

Number of Acquisitions


The Number of Acquisition field specifies the number of acquisitions to be executed by ScopeView.
If the signals originate from acquisition units, it can be useful to have a number of acquisitions higher than one to see the evolution of the acquisition signals from one acquisition to another or to compute the average of the results obtained.


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