Customizing your Workspace Environment

Customizing your environment means modifying the TestDrive Interface and its sub-panels to suit your needs. You can have as many configurations as you need. The following section explains how to use configurations.

Profiles and Configurations

As a TestDrive user, you will have a personal profile that contains all your TestDrive configurations. The following section explains how profiles and configurations work and how they are managed. The means to adapt your environment to your needs, i.e., change a configuration, are discussed in the Customizing the TestDrive Interface section.

To login at program startup

• The Login dialog box opens
• You are being prompted to select your profile (username) and to type your password

  • If you want to create a new profile, click the New Profile… button and see the following section to create a new profile.

  • A default profile containing one or more configurations is available.

• You can choose to work offline or not by checking or not the Work Offline

• Click OK
• The Configurations dialog box opens except if you had previously chosen to automatically load a specific configuration at startup (see to select a configuration and to automatically load the current configuration at startup).

To create a new profile

• You must click the New Profile… button of the Login dialog

• The New Profile dialog box opens
• Enter your username, password, and password User profiles can have an empty password.
• Click OK
  • Your user profile is created, and the default configurations are copied into your
  • The Configurations dialog box opens which allows you to select the configuration you want to work with (see the to select a configuration section).

To select a configuration

• If you have just logged in, the Configurations dialog box is already
• If you were using another configuration and want to change, select File > Open…

The Configurations dialog box opens.

You can either:

• use one of the existing (or copied default) configurations by selecting it from the Configuration option
• You can choose to modify the selected configuration by clicking the Options… button (see the to edit configuration options section for more details).

You can create a new configuration by clicking the New Configuration… button (see the to create a new configuration section for more details).

• You can enter/modify the configuration
• Click OK

To edit configuration options

• You might have chosen to edit an existing configuration's options from the Configurations dialog box at startup. If not, select Tools > Options…

• The Configuration Options dialog box opens
• You can change the name of the configuration
• You can select a new model (type or browse) for the configuration.
• You can choose to make the configuration public or private.
• You can import parts from other configurations or even import a complete configuration (see the to import parts or complete configurations section).
• You can choose to automatically load the configuration at the next TestDrive
• Click OK
• The newly modified configuration is loaded

To create a new configuration

You might have chosen to create a new configuration from the Configurations dialog box at startup.

• If not, select File > New
• The Configuration Options dialog box opens

• Enter the new configuration's name
• Select a model (type or browse) for the new configuration
• Choose whether you want this configuration to be public or
• You can import parts of other configurations or even a complete configuration (see the to import parts or complete configurations section).
• You can decide to automatically load the configuration at the next TestDrive startup, or
• Click OK
• The new configuration is loaded

To import parts or complete configurations

You might have clicked the Import… button in the Configuration Options dialog

• If not, select File > Import…
• The Import dialog box opens.

• Select the source profile
• Select the source configuration

The source is the configuration from which the parts are imported. It is defined by the configuration itself and the profile in which the configuration is located.

Click the buttons associated with the parts to be imported from the source.

You can choose one or more of these parts:

• Entire configuration
• Signal and panel mappings Aliases
• Signal and component properties
• Parameters
• Model path

The name of the source (profile/configuration) appears next to the part to be imported.

• Repeat steps 3, 4, and 5 if imports are made from different configurations.
• Click OK
• If you were already using this configuration, the import is completed, the configuration is reloaded with the modifications and you can continue working with
• If you were modifying a configuration's options, the import is completed, and you are back to the Configuration Options dialog box.

To open an existing configuration

• Select File > Open…
• If your last changes were not saved, you are prompted to save them
• The Configurations dialog box opens
• Select a configuration
• Choose to work offline or not
• Click OK
• The configuration is loaded

To save the current configuration

Select File > Save.

When you save your work, in TestDrive, you save the current configuration which includes its:

• Sharing property (private or public)
• Automatic loading at startup
• Aliases
• Signal and component properties
• Parameter values
• Signal and component mappings
• Model path

To save the current configuration under a different name

• Select File > Save As…
• Type the new configuration name or select an existing configuration to replace with the current configuration
• Enter the configuration's description
• Click OK

To enable/disable the automatic loading of the current configuration at startup

• Select Tools > Options…
• In the Options dialog box, check/uncheck the Automatically load this configuration at the next startup check
• Click OK

To pack a configuration

• Select File > Pack & Go…
• The Configuration Packing dialog box appears
• Select the profile to pick a configuration for
• Select the configuration to be packed.
• Browse for the package (.zip file) by clicking the browse
• Click OK
• The selected configuration is packed.

To unpack a configuration

• Select File > Pack…
• The Configuration Unpacking dialog box appears
• Browse for the .zip file to be unpacked by clicking on the browse button
• Click OK
• The selected configuration is unpacked in your profile.

To change a user password

• Select Tools > Preferences…
• The Preferences dialog box opens
• Enter your current password, your new password, and the password

• If the Current Password entry field is disabled, it means that your current password is an empty text, i.e., you do not have to enter it.

To change a username

• Select Tools > Preferences…
• The Preferences dialog box opens
• Enter your new username and your current password in their respective entry fields
• If the Current Password entry field is disabled, it means that your current password is an empty text, i.e., you do not have to enter it.
• Click OK

To enable/disable the search for the Tactile Interface at startup

This is needed to determine whether TestDrive is to be used with or without a Tactile Interface Module installed.

• Select Tools > Preferences…
• The Preferences dialog box opens
• Check or uncheck the Search for the Tactile Interface at Startup check
• Click OK