; FILE: inihelp.txt Copyright (c), Symmetric Research, 2006
;
; This file contains a complete description of the keywords that can be
; used in a PARxCH .ini initialization file.
;
; Both simp, the command line acquisition program, and scope, the
; graphical user interface acquisition program accept the same .ini file
; format and keywords. Although each program will ignore any of the
; options that do not apply (ie simp will ignore the graphical display
; options that are only appropriate for scope, etc).
;
; The syntax is free format with a keyword followed by an = value. All
; keywords and values are case insensitive. The keyword case used here
; is the same as the corresponding parameter in simp.c or scope.cpp
; and xch.cpp.
;
; Comments start with a ; and extend to the end of the line.
;
; Keywords omitted from the .ini file are assigned default values. To
; double check the values you are running with, see the simp.rpt report
; file generated when simp starts or the scope Options menu dialog
; boxes. The simp.rpt file also provides summary information and the
; scope dialog boxes allow the values to be changed.
;
; In the keyword descriptions below, {} means one of the values is
; required.
;
;
;
; ALLOWED KEYWORDS AND VALUES:
;
; Title = "title string"
;
; This parameter is displayed in the scope title bar to provide
; information about what ini file is being used. If no title is
; given, the .ini file name will be used. It is not applicable to
; simp and can not be changed from the scope menus.
;
;
; AtodEnable = {ON,OFF}
;
; To run normally you must have AtodEnable = ON.
;
; If there is no PARxCH attached to your computer, but you wish to run
; anyway, specify AtodEnable = OFF. This will allow the program to
; go ahead and emit data files for testing, although they will of
; course have junk data. Currently this parameter is ignored by scope.
;
;
; AtodDriverName = {"SrParXch378","SrParXch278",...}
;
; This is the name of the device driver to use. Each device driver
; talks to its own parallel port address, so there may be more than
; one device driver and A/D board installed at a time.
;
; For WinNT/2K and Linux, the name of the device driver is given by
; the indriver utility which is used to install the driver. For
; Win95 and MSDOS, the name of the driver is determined by
; prefixing the hex value of the parallel port address with the
; string "SrParXch". Most people will use a port address of 0x378
; which will result in a driver named SrParXch378.
;
; It can be changed from the scope Options > Hardware dialog.
;
;
; AtodModelName = {"PAR1CH","PAR4CH","PAR8CH","DEFAULT"}
;
; The PARxCH family of 24 bit A/D boards includes several models with
; different channel counts and slightly different features. This
; parameter specifies which specific PARxCH model is being used.
; PAR1CH, PAR4CH, and PAR8CH respectively select the 1, 4, and 8
; channel devices.
;
; DEFAULT selects the default PARxCH model. This default is set
; when the PARxCH software is installed and can be changed using the
; setmodel utility. For WinNT/2K/XP, the default model is saved in
; the registry. For Linux, Win95, and MSDOS, it is saved in an
; environment variable.
;
; AtodModelName can be changed from the scope Options > Hardware dialog.
;
;
; PortMode = {BPP,EPP,ECP/BPP,ECP/EPP}
;
; This controls the parallel port mode the PARxCH device driver will
; use. If possible set up your port for EPP mode in the PC's CMOS and
; use EPP drivers. It can be changed from the scope Options > Hardware
; dialog.
;
;
; DataCoding = {OFFSET,SIGNED}
;
; This controls whether the A/D converters return their result as
; 24 bit offset integers or 24 bit signed twos compliment integers.
;
;
; SamplingRate = {any number between 2.44 and 15625.00}
;
; The sampling rate in Hz is set by this parameter. It is mapped
; into the Decimation and Turbo parameters required by the ADS1210 A/D
; converters to actually set the final rate. See the summary info
; in simp.rpt to find out the true final sampling rate. It can
; be changed from the scope Options > Acquisition dialog.
;
;
; Gain = {1,2,4,8,16}
;
; ADS1210 gain parameter. Running with gains higher than 1 reduces
; resolution. See the ADS1210 spec sheet. Use a gain of 1 if possible.
; It can be changed from the scope Options > Acquisition dialog.
;
;
; ToggleLed = {ON,OFF}
;
; Turns the yellow led toggling on and off. When ToggleLed is on, the
; simp and scope programs will toggle the yellow LED each time a
; new buffer of data is acquired.
;
;
; Channel N = "Title" Trigger = {ON,OFF}
;
; The channel keyword defines titles and trigger status for each
; channel N. For the PAR8CH, N can be from 0 to 7 or, if the digital
; and GPS channels are enabled, 10. For the PAR4CH, N can be from
; 3 or, if the GPS channel is enabled, 4. For the PAR1CH, the range
; for N is the same as for the PAR4CH.
;
; The channel title strings are largely ignored by simp but are
; passed on to the simp.hdr and scope.hdr header files for use by
; later programs. They can also be changed from the scope
; Options > Channel dialog.
;
; Setting the trigger keyword to ON, means that the specified channel
; is included in the computation when applying the trigger algorithm
; selected with the TriggerType keyword described below. The trigger
; channel selection can be changed from the scope Options > Trigger
; dialog.
;
;
; DigitalEnable = {ON,OFF}
;
; Turns the digital I/O channel on and off. When DigitalEnable is
; on, 4 bits of digital information is collected and included in the
; output file. This only applies to the PAR8CH.
;
;
; Digital N = "Title"
;
; The digital keyword defines titles and trigger status for each
; of 4 digital channels. This only applies to the PAR8CH.
;
; The digital title strings are largely ignored by simp but are
; used in scope. They can also be changed from the scope
; Options > Channel dialog.
;
;
; TriggerType = {None,Threshold,DigitalLevel,DigitalEdge}
;
; 'None' means to do continuous recording. 'Threshold' means use an
; amplitude threshold calculation to decide when to save output files.
; 'DigitalLevel' and 'DigitalEdge' mean check the signal on a digital
; I/O line to decide when to save output files. 'DigitalLevel' looks for
; a high or low level and 'DigitalEdge' looks for a rising or falling edge.
; This can be changed from the scope Options > Trigger dialog.
;
;
; TriggerThreshold = N
;
; When the TriggerType is set to 'Threshold', this parameter sets the
; amplitude that must be exceeded for the trigger condition to be
; satisfied. The absolute value of the acquired data is used in the
; comparison so the threshold is valid for both positive and negative
; data. For digital channels, the threshold is ignored and a value of
; 1 is considered triggered while 0 is not. The threshold can be
; changed from the scope Options > Trigger dialog.
;
; Here are some approximate ideas for good thresholds:
;
; Signal visible Use threshold
; at x bits of
; -------------- -------------
; 8 130,000
; 13 4,000
; 21 30
;
;
; TriggerDigitalLevelLine = {0,1,2,3}
;
; When the TriggerType is set to 'DigitalLevel', this parameter sets
; which digital input line is checked to determine if a trigger has
; occurred. If the line is matches the TriggerActiveLevel, a trigger
; is declared. The digital level line can be changed from the scope
; Options > Trigger dialog.
;
;
; TriggerActiveLevel = {High,Low}
;
; When the TriggerType is set to 'DigitalLevel', this parameter sets
; whether a trigger is declared when the digital input line selected
; by the TriggerDigitalLevelLine parameter is high or low. A trigger
; is declared when the level of the specified line matches the active
; level. The active level can be changed from the scope
; Options > Trigger dialog.
;
;
; TriggerDigitalEdgeLine = {0,1,2,3}
;
; When the TriggerType is set to 'DigitalEdge', this parameter sets
; which digital input line is checked to determine if a trigger has
; occurred. If the line goes through a transition that matches the
; TriggerActiveEdge setting, a trigger is declared. The digital edge
; line can be changed from the scope Options > Trigger dialog.
;
;
; TriggerActiveEdge = {Rising,Falling}
;
; When the TriggerType is set to 'DigitalEdge', this parameter sets
; whether a trigger is declared when the digital input line selected
; by the TriggerDigitalEdgeLine parameter goes through a rising or
; falling transition. A trigger is declared when the edge of the
; specified line matches the active edge. The active edge can be
; changed from the scope Options > Trigger dialog.
;
;
; TriggerActionSave = {ON,OFF}
;
; When a trigger is detected, several different actions are allowed.
; This parameter sets whether one trigger action is to save data
; files. This can be changed from the scope Options > Trigger dialog.
;
;
; TriggerFilesToSave = N
;
; If TriggerActionSave is ON, this parameter sets how many output files
; are saved once a trigger condition has been detected. The number of
; files to write out is reset to this value every time a trigger is
; detected. For example, suppose TriggerFilesToSave is 3 and 2 files
; have already been written when a second trigger is detected. This
; will cause 3 more files to be written for a total of 5. This can be
; changed from the scope Options > Trigger dialog.
;
;
; TriggerActionSignal = {ON,OFF}
;
; When a trigger is detected, several different actions are allowed.
; This parameter sets whether one trigger action is to signal or set
; high a digital output line. This can be changed from the scope
; Options > Trigger dialog.
;
;
; TriggerLineToSignal = {0,1,2,3}
;
; If TriggerActionSignal is ON, this parameter sets which digital
; output line is signaled when a trigger occurs. This can be changed
; from the scope Options > Trigger dialog.
;
;
; TriggerLatch = {ON,OFF}
;
; When TriggerActionSignal is ON, detection of a trigger causes the
; TriggerLineToSignal digital output line to be set high. If
; TriggerLatch is OFF, the line is brought low once the trigger is
; done as determined by TriggerFilesToSave. But, if TriggerLatch
; is ON, the digital line remains signaled. It can be manually
; turned off by typing a 'y' when simp is running.
;
; This can be changed from the scope Options > Trigger dialog and
; toggled from the scope Options Trigger latch item.
;
;
; Trigger = {ON,OFF}
;
; This keyword should only be used immediately after the Channel or
; Digital keywords so it is clear which channel it refers to. See
; the Channel keyword above for a description of the Trigger parameter.
; This can be changed from the scope Options > Trigger dialog.
;
;
; OutputFileFormat = {NONE,OUT,DAT}
;
; NONE turns off all disk saves.
;
; OUT file format is appropriate for users who want to only save
; analog data. Selection of OUT will generate separate .hdr and .out
; binary files, where the .hdr file contains general acquisition
; parameters and the .out data files contains multiplexed analog
; data.
;
; DAT file format is suitable for users who want to save both
; analog data and GPS timing information. Selection of DAT will
; generate .dat files, each of which contains a header and records as
; part of its format. See .\include\srdat.h for more information
; about the DAT format.
;
;
; OutputFileNaming = {SINGLE,SEQUENTIAL,TIME,STDOUT}
;
; If disks saves are enabled, the buffered data is first saved to a temp
; file (simp.tmp or scope.tmp) and then renamed once the OutputBlocks
; count is reached. The OutputFileNaming parameter controls the final name.
;
; SINGLE always renames the file to scope.out or simp.out. Or .dat
; if that type has been selected as the OutputFileFormat. Unless you
; remove that file before the next one is ready, an error will occur.
;
; SEQUENTIAL renames to ########.out or .dat where the suffix depends
; on the selected OutputFileFormat. The prefix is a sequentially
; incremented decimal number starting at OutputSeqStart.
;
; TIME renames to ########.out or .datwhere the suffix depends on the
; selected OutputFileFormat. The prefix is a hex number indicating
; the number of seconds since 1/1/1970. The TIME filename is only
; resolved to 1 second intervals. If you are creating files more
; often than this, the rename operation will fail and acquisition will
; stop. Increase the OutputBlocks count or use the SEQUENTIAL mode if
; this happens.
;
; STDOUT writes the binary data to standard out instead of saving to
; disk. To avoid corrupting the binary data stream with text messages,
; be sure to turn all the Display and Keypress options OFF. These
; include DisplayDataTrace, DisplayDataText, DisplayInfo, GpsDisplayPps,
; GpsDisplaySerial and KeypressToRun. STDOUT is not available in scope.
;
; It can be changed from the scope Options > Output dialog.
;
;
; OutputBlocks = N
;
; This parameter sets how many acqusition buffers are saved to the
; simp.tmp or scope.tmp file before renaming and starting over again.
; The block count can be any value between 1 and 4294967295 (unsigned long
; int). It can be changed from the scope Options > Output dialog.
;
;
; OutputDirectory = "dirname"
;
; This parameter sets the directory where output files are written.
; For example, \sr\parxch\simple or /usr/local/sr/parxch/simple.
; The directory must already exist. It will not be created. If this
; parameter is not provided, it defaults to the current directory.
; It can be changed from the scope Options > Output dialog.
;
;
; OutputSeqStart = N
;
; This parameter sets the starting number used for naming output files
; when the SEQUENTIAL OutputFileNaming is chosen. An integer number is
; expected. The default is 0. It can be changed from the scope
; Options > Output dialog.
;
;
; DisplayDataText = {ON,OFF}
;
; Turns the simp text screen data display on and off. Best for
; debugging, leave this parameter off at high acquisition rates.
;
;
; DisplayDataTrace = {ON,OFF}
;
; Turns the scope plotting of traces on and off. It can be
; changed from the scope View > Traces menu item.
;
;
; DisplayInfo = {ON,OFF}
;
; For simp, this turns the text screen buffer information display on
; and off. Turn this and DisplayData off when running in the background.
;
; For scope, this turns the status bar along the bottom of the window
; on or off. It can be changed from the scope View > StatusBar menu item;
;
;
; DisplayColor = {Mono,Blue,Green,Brown}
;
; This controls the color of the scope plot traces and background.
; It can be changed from the scope Options > Display dialog, but is
; not applicable to simp.
;
;
; DisplayNbits = N
;
; This controls the amount by which the amplitude of the plotted
; traces are scaled. N can range from 1 to 24. This parameter
; only affects the display and not the output data. It can be
; changed from the scope Options > Display dialog, but is not
; applicable to simp.
;
;
; DisplayAutoDC = {ON,OFF}
;
; When set ON, a DC offset value is computed and subtracted as each
; new buffer of data is acquired. When set OFF, the DC offset value
; computed for the first buffer is subtracted from all following buffers.
; This parameter only affects the display and not the output data.
; To force the DC offset to be re-computed after startup, use the
; scope Options > Update DC offset menu item.
;
; It can be changed from the scope Options > Display dialog or
; the scope Options > Auto DC offset menu item, but is not
; applicable to simp.
;
;
; DisplayClipping = {ON,OFF}
;
; When set ON, plot traces are clipped so they can not extend over
; the neighboring traces. Otherwise, no clipping is applied. This
; parameter only affects the display and not the output data. It can
; be changed from the scope Options > Display dialog or the scope
; Options > Clipping menu item, but is not applicable to simp.
;
;
; DisplayFirstSample = N
;
; This controls the index of the left-most sample. This parameter
; is only useful when the window is smaller than the amount of data
; available. The maximum value is the amount of data minus the
; window size. It can be changed from the scope Options > Display
; dialog or from the horizontal slider bar at the bottom of the window,
; if any. It is not applicable to simp.
;
;
; DisplayFirstTrace = N
;
; This controls the number of the first trace. This parameter
; is only useful when DisplayNtraces is less than the total number
; of traces (channels). It can be changed from the scope
; Options > Display dialog or from the vertical slider bar at the
; right of the window, if any. It is not applicable to simp.
;
;
; DisplayNtraces = N
;
; This controls the number of traces to be displayed. N can range
; from 1 to 4. It can be changed from the scope Options > Display
; dialog, but is not applicable to simp.
;
;
; GpsEnable = {ON,OFF}
;
; Turns the GPS timing on and off. When GpsEnable is on, GPS timing
; information is collected and included in the output file.
;
;
; GpsDriverName = {SrParGps,SrParGps378,SrParGps278}
;
; This is the name of the PARGPS device driver to use. The name of the
; device driver should be the same as was specified with the PARGPS
; indriver utility at installation.
;
;
; GpsModelName = {PARGPS,ONCORE,PCTIME}
;
; GPS information typically comes from the Symmetric Research PARGPS
; timing unit that uses a Trimble ACE-III GPS receiver. This parameter
; is provided to give extra flexibility which may allow the PARGPS
; software to work with other GPS receivers instead. ONCORE refers to
; the obsolete Motorola OnCore GT receiver, but may also work for other
; receivers that return their NMEA strings in alphabetical order. PCTIME
; means that system time on the PC is assummed to represent accurate GPS
; time because it has been updated from another source. The preferred
; option is PARGPS, the others should still be considered as experimental.
;
; NOTE: Windows only updates the PC system time every 10 milliseconds.
;
;
; GpsSerialPort = {1,2,3,4}
;
; This is the index of the PC serial port the PARGPS device driver uses
; for returning the NMEA serial data. Use 1 for COM1 or /dev/ttyS0 and
; 2 for COM2 or /dev/ttyS1, etc.
;
;
; GpsDisplayPps = {ON,OFF}
;
; Turns the text screen GPS PPS information display on and off. Best
; for debugging, leave this parameter off at high acquisition rates.
; This parameter is not used for scope.
;
;
; GpsDisplaySerial = {ON,OFF}
;
; Turns the text screen GPS serial information display on and off.
; Best for debugging, leave this parameter off at high acquisition
; rates. This parameter is not used for scope.
;
;
; KeypressToRun = {ON,OFF}
;
; Normally a keypress is required to begin data acquisition. To have
; acquisition begin immediately set KeypressToRun = OFF.
;
; For scope, this option is only effective for .ini files read from
; the command line on startup. For .ini files read in by using the
; Options > Read ini file menu item while scope is running,
; acquisition must be started in the normal fashion by selecting the
; scope Program > Run menu item.
;
;
; ExitOnError = {ON,OFF}
;
; Makes run time errors fatal or not. Typical errors are disk full
; or FIFO buffer overflows because the PC is hung on some other task.
; Even if ExitOnError = OFF, all runtime errors will be logged in the
; simp.err file and printed to the screen.
;
; Startup errors like .ini syntax errors or being unable to allocate
; sufficient PC memory are always fatal. Only certain runtime errors
; are affected by ExitOnError.
;
; Scope logs the errors to scope.err and ignores this keyword when
; KeypressToRun = ON.
;
;
; ForbidMultiple = {ON,OFF}
;
; Most users should leave this ON to prevent unintended conflicts.
; Only change it when running two PARxCH each on different parallel
; ports. This parameter can not be changed from the scope menus
; and is not applicable to simp.
;
; Interactive = {ON,OFF}
;
; Most users should leave this ON. Setting it to OFF disables the OK
; button on all the Options dialogs except for the Display dialog. This
; prevents the interactive user from changing any of the other options
; such as acquisition and output values. This keyword parameter can not
; be changed from the scope menus and is not applicable to simp.
;
;
; The following lines show how these keywords might be used.
AtodEnable = ON
AtodDriverName = SrParXch378
AtodModelName = PAR8CH
AtodPortMode = EPP ; BPP EPP ECP/BPP ECP/EPP
DataCoding = SIGNED ; Signed, Offset
SamplingRate = 50.0 ; <<< requested sampling rate
Gain = 1
ToggleLed = ON
Channel 0 = "CH00" Trigger = OFF
Channel 1 = "CH01" Trigger = ON
Channel 2 = "CH02" Trigger = ON
Channel 3 = "CH03" Trigger = ON
Channel 4 = "CH04" Trigger = ON
Channel 5 = "CH05" Trigger = ON
Channel 6 = "CH06" Trigger = ON
Channel 7 = "CH07" Trigger = ON
Channel 8 = "DGTL" Trigger = OFF
Channel 9 = "MARK" Trigger = OFF
Channel 10 = "CNTR" Trigger = OFF
DigitalEnable = ON
Digital 0 = "DIG0"
Digital 1 = "DIG1"
Digital 2 = "DIG2"
Digital 3 = "DIG3"
TriggerType = None ; None,Threshold,DigitalLevel,DigitalEdge
TriggerThreshold = 2000
TriggerDigitalLevelLine = 0
TriggerActiveLevel = High ; High, Low
TriggerDigitalEdgeLine = 0
TriggerActiveEdge = Rising ; Rising, Falling
TriggerActionSave = ON
TriggerFilesToSave = 2
TriggerActionSignal = OFF
TriggerLineToSignal = 0
TriggerLatch = OFF
OutputDirectory = "." ; "\sr\parxch\data"
OutputFileFormat = Dat ; Dat, Out
OutputFileNaming = Sequential ; Single, Sequential, Time
OutputSeqStart = 0
OutputBlocks = 4
DisplayInfo = ON
DisplayDataText = OFF ; for simp data display
DisplayDataTrace = ON ; for scope data display
GpsEnable = ON
GpsModelName = PARGPS ; PARGPS, Oncore, PcTime
GpsDriverName = SrParGps
GpsSerialPort = 2
GpsDisplayPps = ON
GpsDisplaySerial = ON
KeypressToRun = ON
ExitOnError = ON
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.