FILE: readme2.txt Copyright (c), Symmetric Research, 2003-2006
Applications readme.
This file has general information about the finished application
programs supplied with the SR PARxCH. With these programs you can
immediately begin acquiring data once the system is installed (see
readme1.txt).
Many users may find that one of these programs satisfies their data
acquisition needs. For those wishing to do custom programming, the
source code for these programs is supplied and you are free to use it
as a starting point for your own work. See readme3.txt for
additional information about custom programming.
* RUN DIAG TO VERIFY SYSTEM OPERATION [ \sr\parxch\diags\diag.exe ]
To check that the system is correctly installed and connected to the
computer, run diag in the \sr\parxch\diags directory. It will search
for a connected and powered up PARxCH giving you a report of where it
is found. We recommend starting with the standard test first.
> diag std
If diag fails, see readme1.txt for more information about system
installation.
* METER [ \sr\parxch\meter\meter.exe ]
This command line program acquires and displays data at a fixed slow
sampling rate (1Hz) as text values. The display is text only. It
requires a command line argument, "counts" or "volts"
> meter {counts,volts} [{bpp,epp,ecp/bpp,ecp/epp}]
and will display the aquired data in the specified format. Counts is
the raw count value in hex returned by the A/Ds, while volts is the
counts scaled to volts. The conversion from counts to volts is
computed by a straight line formula, and has NOT been tightly
calibrated for the A/Ds of a particular board. See the source code
meter.c for more information about the counts -> volts conversion and
calibration. The second command line argument selects the parallel
port mode. It is optional and defaults to epp.
* SIMP [ \sr\parxch\simple\simp.exe ]
This command line program acquires data and saves it to hard disk
files. The sampling rate and other acquisition parameters can be
easily changed by specifying different values in an initialization
file. The ASCII initialization file should be specified to simp
as a command line argument:
> simp simp.ini
The file simp.ini is a example initialization file showing the
syntax and possible parameters along with descriptions. Users should
modify this file to create their own initialization files.
The data files from simp can be written in one of two formats. The
first format uses a .out extension and the second uses a .dat
extension.
The .out files are in binary 32 bit integer format where the 24 bit
acquired values are saved in the lower part of the 32 bit word. Data
is saved in multiplexed format. Ie, the file contains the first
values from channels 0,1,2,3, then the next sample point values from
channels 0,1,2,3, etc.
The .dat files, while also binary, have a more complex format. They
start with 4096 bytes of header information which is then followed by
data records. Each data record begins with a short record tag that
identifies the type and size of the data it contains. Valid record
types include 24-bit analog data, GPS PPS data, and GPS serial NMEA
data. Please see the srdat.h file in the \sr\parxch\include
directory for more infomation about the structure of .dat files.
Being "text only", the simp program is often suitable for background
execution, while other foreground tasks perform additional processing
on the .out or .dat files.
* 2TASK [ \sr\parxch\2task\demo.bat ]
Run demo.bat to see an example of "background" and "foreground"
processing.
* SCOPE [ \sr\parxch\scope\scope.exe ] (Win9x/Win2000/WinXP only)
This is a full GUI program with a scope like horizontal trace display
of the data. All PARxCH parameters are set with pull down menus and
can be saved in an .ini file for use with future runs.
Like simp, scope can save its data to disk files. This feature and
many others can be turned on and off. The data format of these files
is the same as simp.
Scope.exe is currently supplied only in a 32 bit version for
Windows. It is not available for Linux or DOS.
* VIEW [ \sr\parxch\view\view.exe ] (Win9x/Win2000/WinXP only)
This is a full GUI program for displaying data previously acquired
with the simp or scope programs as horizontal traces. It works with
both the .out and .dat file formats.
If the data files in a directory are named sequentially, view lets
you easily scroll forwards or backwards from one file to the next.
View.exe is currently supplied only in a 32 bit version for
Windows. It is not available for Linux or DOS.
* LABVIEW [ \sr\parxch\labview\. ]
National Instruments LabView support is provided in the parxch.llb
LLB library file in the labview directory. In addition to the VI
drivers, there are also finished LabView "VI" applications for
running a LED meter display and scope. Note that you must have a
copy of LabView in order to run these, as these are not stand-alone
applications.
LabView support is provided only for LabView 4.0 under Win9x/Win2K.
See labview\readme.txt for more information.
* EXAMPLE PROGRAMS [ \sr\parxch\examples\. ]
A very simple example program can be found in the examples directory.
This program makes use of the parxch.dll or libpar.so library to run
a "bare bones" acquisition scheme. Study this program or simp first
if you will be writing your own software.
* VISUAL BASIC ACQUIRE PROGRAM (Win2000/WinXP only)
The vbasic directory contains a simple Visual Basic demo program
called Acquire that acquires data at 100 samples per second and writes
it to binary output files. This program also demonstrates how the
parxch.vb module file provides an interface between a Visual Basic
program and the PARxCH library functions found in the PARxCH DLL.
You must have the .NET framework installed on your machine in order
to run this program.
* SR PARxCH USER MANUAL [ \sr\parxch\docs\srmanual\parxch.pdf ]
A complete User manual can be found in parxch.pdf. The manual is in
Adobe Portable Document Format and can be printed off. The circuit
diagrams for the PARxCH boards are included in separate files called
circ1ch.pdf, circ4ch.pdf, and circ8ch.pdf.
* BURR BROWN SPEC SHEET [ \sr\parxch\docs\bb\ads1210.pdf ]
A copy of the BurrBrown AD1210 spec sheet in Adobe PDF format has
been included in the docs directory. You must have the Adobe PDF
reader installed to view this document. Refer to this spec sheet if
you have technical questions about the PARxCH BB ADS1210 A/D
converters.
* ASCII CONVERSION [ \sr\parxch\convert\ascii\dat2asc.exe ]
This directory contains a program to convert the binary output files
from simp and scope to ASCII text format. ASCII conversion programs
for both .out and .dat format data files are available.
* SUDS CONVERSION [ \sr\parxch\convert\suds\out2sud.exe ]
This directory contains a program to convert the binary output files
from simp and scope to SUDS (Seismic Unified Data Structure) format.
SUDS conversion programs for both .out and .dat format data files
are available. IASPEI/IUGG users should refer to this directory for
more details. This information is only of interest to IASPEI users.
Download Driver Pack
After your driver has been downloaded, follow these simple steps to install it.
Expand the archive file (if the download file is in zip or rar format).
If the expanded file has an .exe extension, double click it and follow the installation instructions.
Otherwise, open Device Manager by right-clicking the Start menu and selecting Device Manager.
Find the device and model you want to update in the device list.
Double-click on it to open the Properties dialog box.
From the Properties dialog box, select the Driver tab.
Click the Update Driver button, then follow the instructions.
Very important: You must reboot your system to ensure that any driver updates have taken effect.
For more help, visit our Driver Support section for step-by-step videos on how to install drivers for every file type.