=========================================================== Tektronix TLA Offline (TM) Version 5.0 June 7, 2005 =========================================================== This readme file briefly discusses the Offline capability of the TLA application software and ways to configure it so that it will simulate the presence of LA and DSO acquisition modules. Contents of this readme file: 1. INTENDED USE 2. DISTRIBUTION & AVAILABILITY 3. LICENSING 4. INSTALLATION, COMPATIBILITY, POSSIBLE PROBLEMS 5. BEHAVIOR & LIMITATIONS 6. VIEWING DATA 7. MICROPROCESSOR SUPPORT PACKAGES 8. TPI & TLASCRIPT 9. TECHNICAL SUPPORT 10. TLA CONFIGURATION FILE 11. STRUCTURE OF THE TLA CONFIGURATION FILE 12. WAYS TO MODIFY THE TLA CONFIGURATION FILE 13. LOAD SYSTEM 14. VISASTUB.INI FRAGMENTS 15. EDITING VISASTUB.INI 16. EXPANSION MAINFRAMES 17. EXTERNAL OSCILLOSCOPE 18. TLA OFFLINE SUPPORT FILES --------------- 1. INTENDED USE --------------- offline data viewing that complements the Tektronix Logic Analyzer Family. The primary purpose of Offline is to allow TLA users to view, from a regular PC, TLA acquisition data that was previously acquired and saved to an accessible file. Although you can configure Offline to contain simulated LA and DSO modules, that is not the primary purpose of the software. Offline supports the TLA700, TLA600, TLA5000 and TLA7000 Series Logic Analyzers. TLA Offline does not support the Tektronix TLA7PG2 Pattern Generator modules. ------------------------------ 2. DISTRIBUTION & AVAILABILITY ------------------------------ Starting with V5.0, TLA Offline is a standard part Tektronix Logic Analyzer Software. ------------ 3. LICENSING ------------ The TLA application software must be used in accordance with the terms of the accompanying license. ------------------------------------------------- 4. INSTALLATION, COMPATIBILITY, POSSIBLE PROBLEMS ------------------------------------------------- TLA software is distributed on CD-ROM. To install install it execute the Setup.exe program located on the CD-ROM (for example, D:\TLA Application SW\Disk1\Setup.exe). TLA Software is compatable with Microsoft .NET Framework, thus is fully compatible only with Windows 2000 Professional and Windows XP Professional. This version of TLA Software is compatible with V4.4 TLA application software or earlier (can read save files from V4.4 and older). For best results, use with data acquired by a TLA running V4.4 TLA application software. -------------------------- 5. BEHAVIOR & LIMITATIONS -------------------------- When operating the TLA Aplication software in Offline operating mode the system operates with some ability to simulate hardware functions. For TLA users,the primary intended purpose of Offline is to provide a way to view previously acquired and saved TLA data "offline" on a separate PC. Offline can also be configured to "contain" simulated LA and DSO modules. If you choose to configure it with simulated acquisition modules you should be aware that only a small amount of the actual functionality of the module is simulated. Most of the TLA's acquisition capabilities are not supported. Here is a very brief and incomplete list TLA features and their support in TLA Offline: Viewing saved data Supported LA Modules Simulated DSO Modules Simulated External Oscilloscope Simulated Expansion Mainframes Simulated Running (acquiring) Simulated Acquisition Data Simulated Viewing simulated data Supported Glitch Data Simulated LA Channel Grouping Supported LA Memory Depth Simulated LA Trigger Position Simulated LA Triggering No effect on data LA Storage Settings No effect on data DSO vertical Simulated DSO Horizontal Simulated DSO Trigger Position Simulated DSO Trigger No effect on data Cal & Diagnostics Simulated TPI Supported/Simulated TLAScript Supported/Simulated Most other stuff Supported In a nutshell, operations that involve interaction with the module hardware are either ignored or simulated (mostly ignored). Operations that are pure software mostly work as usual. For detailed information on the behavior of the software, refer to the TLA online help. --------------- 6. VIEWING DATA --------------- Here are the major steps you should follow to use TLA Offline to view previously acquired TLA acquisition data. Step 1) Acquire data on a TLA Step 2) Save the acquired data Step 3) View the data using TLA Offline on a PC or TLA. Step 1 is to acquire the acquisition data on a TLA. It doesn't really matter what the hardware or software configuration of the TLA is. You can use any module and any support package. TLA Offline can be used to view data acquired on a TLA that is running a version of TLA application software that is pre-version 4.4 because Offline is compatible with previous versions of TLA save files (.tla files). It is recommended, however, that the TLA be running version 4.4 software. Step 2 is to save the acquired data somewhere that is accessible by the PC or TLA. It is most convenient, of course, if you can save the data to a networked drive that is accessible to both the TLA and the machine running TLA Offline. The TLA's internal CD-RW drive may be used to save large amounts of acquisition data on a CD for easy transfer to other machines. There are a couple of different ways that you can actually save the data: a) Save Module b) Save System The Save Module operation saves only the raw data that was acquired by a specific module. It does not save any of the data windows that may exist that are displaying that data. If you use this operation to save the acquisition data you will need to create a completely new data window to view that data (as opposed to loading a previously saved data window). The Save System operation saves all of the raw data for all of the modules in the system and it also saves all of the data windows that exist that are displaying data from any data source (real or previously saved). If you use this operation to save the acquisition data you will have the choice of creating a completely new data window to view the data, loading one of the data windows that was saved when you did the Save System, or doing a Load System operation to load all modules, acquisition data and data windows from the saved system. Step 3 is to view the data in TLA Offline. There are three ways to view the previously saved data: a) Load System b) New Data Window c) Load Data Window The Load System operation loads the previously saved system. This operation actually changes the Configuration of the TLA application that is using Offline operating mode. The Offline configuration will match that of the saved system. All of the modules, acquisition data and data windows in the saved system are loaded. The New Data Window operation creates a completely new data window. You can either create a data window that initially has no data in it and then incrementally add waveforms or columns of data, or you can create a new data window and specify your previously saved data as the data source. In either case you will at some point in the process need to press a button named "Add Data Source...". This is where you specify the file that contains the saved data. This method of viewing saved data (New Data Window) will work with a file that was created by either the Save Module or the Save System operation on the TLA. The Load Data Window operation loads a previously saved data window. This will only work if the file containing the saved data was created on the TLA using the Save System operation. This is because only the Save System operation saves data windows. If your data was being viewed in a disassembled format, you will need to install the appropriate microprocessor support package on the PC or TLA mainframe running TLA software. ---------------------------------- 7. MICROPROCESSOR SUPPORT PACKAGES ---------------------------------- If you are using a microprocessor support package on the TLA, you will need to also install that support package on any PC that is to display this data. The media used to install the support package on the TLA can also be used to install the support package on your PC. ------------------ 8. TPI & TLASCRIPT ------------------ TLA Offline can be programmatically controlled via TPI, TPI.NET, or TLAScript. All of these can be used with Offline and they pretty much act as they would with a real TLA with the exception that data acquisitions are simulated. Refer to the online TPI or TLAScript documentation for details. If you you have more than one TLA application running, TPI.NET will only support communications to one of these applications. That is, the first TLA Application started. -------------------- 9. TECHNICAL SUPPORT -------------------- For technical support of TLA Offline, contact the Tektronix technical support organization. For contact information see the TLA online help (choose Help > Technical Support in the TLA menu bar). ---------------------------- 10. TLA OFFLINE CONFIGURATION FILE ---------------------------- TLA Offline is capable of simulating the presence of LA and DSO modules. When TLA software starts, it reads a configuration file to see which LA and DSO modules, if any, it should simulate. That configuration file is: C:\Program Files\TLA 700\System\visastub.ini To modify the TLA Offline configuration, you must modify this file. Like any program's .ini file, this information is formatted in a very specific and exacting manner. See the following sections for details. --------------------------------------------- 11. STRUCTURE OF THE TLA CONFIGURATION FILE --------------------------------------------- The basic structure of the TLA Offline confuration file, visastub.ini, is fairly simple. It looks like this: Header Module 1 information Module 2 information ... The complexity is in the contents of each per-module information section of the file. This per-module information consists of many lines of text, some of which must be unique for each module in the configuration. We have provided some files, located in the C:\Program Files\TLA 700\Tools\TLAVu directory, that may help you should you want to change the configuration. This support is discussed in sections that follow. ----------------------------------------------- 12. WAYS TO MODIFY THE TLA CONFIGURATION FILE ----------------------------------------------- There are two different methods of modifying the OFFLINE configuration: A) Load System B) visastub.ini fragment files These are described in the sections that follow. --------------- 13. LOAD SYSTEM --------------- When the TLA Application is operatedn in Offline operating mode all save restore operations are defined by the visastub.ini file. The Load System operation, executed from the TLA application, loads a previously saved system. This operation actually changes the configuration of TLA Offline to match that of the saved system. All of the modules, acquisition data and data windows in the saved system are loaded. Performing this operation actually modifies the configuration file. This is method is the most common means for reconfiguring Offline. If you don't have access to your own saved TLA system files, you can modify the configuration by loading one of the demo files that is shipped with TLA Software. Do a Load System operation and browse to one of the files in C:\Program Files\TLA 700\Tools\TLAVu\TLAFiles. Because the configuration file is modified when you do a Load System operation, the default configuration of TLA Software (configuration when TLA Offline is started) and the behavior of the Default System operation are affected by the previous Load System operation performed. In other words, the "default system" for TLA Offline is the configuration that resulted from the previous Load System operation. -------------------------- 14. VISASTUB.INI FRAGMENTS -------------------------- If you want to create a TLA configuration file that consists of an arbitrary combination of modules, you will need to: 1) Build yourself a custom visastub.ini file. 2) Then update the TekVISA resource list by opening the TekVISA Instrument Manager and pressing the update button. The best way to create a new visastub file is to use the visastub.ini fragments that are located in the C:\Program Files\TLA 700\Tools\TLAVu\Fragments directory. We have built several visastub.ini file fragments, one for each unique type of TLA700 module. The files are named: TLA***.TXT where TLA*** is replaced by the name of the specific module type. For example, TLA7N4.TXT or TLA7D1.TXT. There is also a file that contains the header needed at the beginning of the visastub.ini file. It's name is: HEADER.TXT Building your custom visastub.ini file consists of three steps: Step 1) Build the basic file Step 2) Edit the file so it will actually work Step 3) Copy it over to where it needs to reside Stup 4) Update the TekVISA Resource manager. Step 1 consists of constructing a visastub.ini file that contains all of the major sections of data needed to simulate the desired modules. Something like this will work: COPY HEADER.TXT + TLA7P4.TXT + TLA7E2.TXT MYSTUB.INI Basically, you want to create a file that has the header at the top followed by one section for each of the desired modules. The example above creates a file named MYSTUB.INI that contains the header, a P4 module, and an E2 module. You might want to do this somewhere other than the Fragments directory to reduce that chance of accidentally moving or deleting one of the fragment files. The TLA711, TLA720 or TLA721 Controller "module" does not appear in the visastub.ini file as a module per-se. Simulating Expansion Mainframes is described in a later section. Step 2 is to edit the new ini file so that it will actually work. This is necessary except in the case where your new visastub.ini file contains only one module. If your file contains more than one module you must edit the file for it to work properly. This editing is discussed in the following section. Step 3, after you've edited the file appropriately, is to put it where it needs to be - C:\Program Files\TLA 700\System\visastub.ini. You might want to backup the old visastub.ini file first in case you need to recover you previous configuration. Step 4 is done by right clicking on the yellow icon in on the windows task bar. Open the Instrument Manager. Then press the Update button. You should see a list of VXI1::N::INSTR Modules that make up your new configuration. ------------------------ 15. EDITING VISASTUB.INI ------------------------ If your custom visastub.ini file was created by concatenating two or more visastub.ini fragments, you will need at the very least to modify the "VXI Info Line" of all of the modules except the first one. VXI Info Line ------------- Each module section contains a line like the one below. Each field of the VXI Info Line is described in more detail below. 4093 2004 3 255 V |||| |||| | | |||| |||| | +-----Logical Address (always 255) |||| |||| | |||| |||| +--------Slot Number (varies) |||| |||| |||| ++++----------Model Code (varies) |||| ++++---------------Manufacturer ID (always 4093) Note that there is a "V" at the end of the line. This is important - it needs to be there. Don't accidentally delete it. Manufacturer ID Manufacturer ID is the first field in the VXI Info Line. The manufacturer ID must always be 4093. This identifies Tektronix as the module manufacturer. Model Code Model Code is the second field in the VXI Info Line. Here are the model codes currently in use: --------------------------------------------- LA Modules Model Code Width Depth --------------------------------------------- TLA7L1 2033 34 128K TLA7L2 2034 68 128K TLA7L3 2035 102 128K TLA7L4 2036 136 128K TLA7M1 2037 34 512K TLA7M2 2038 68 512K TLA7M3 2039 102 512K TLA7M4 2040 136 512K TLA7N1 2001 34 4M TLA7N2 2002 68 4M TLA7N3 2003 102 4M TLA7N4 2004 136 4M TLA7P2 2006 68 16M TLA7P4 2008 136 16M TLA7Q2 2010 68 64M TLA7Q4 2012 136 64M TLA7AA1 1962 34 32M TLA7AA2 1963 68 32M TLA7AA3 1964 102 32M TLA7AA4 1965 136 32M TLA7AB2 1967 68 64M TLA7AB4 1969 136 64M TLA7NA1 1937 34 32M TLA7NA2 1938 68 32M TLA7NA3 1939 102 32M TLA7NA4 1940 136 32M ------------------------------------------------- DSO Modules Model Code Chans Bandwidth ------------------------------------------------- TLA7D1 2025 2 500MHz TLA7D2 2026 4 500MHz TLA7E1 2027 2 1GHz TLA7E2 2028 4 1GHz ------------------------------------------------- XM Module Model Code ------------------------------------------------- TLA7XM 3584 (Expansion Interface Module) ------------------------------------------------- TLA600 Model Code Width Depth ------------------------------------------------- TLA601 1024 34 256K TLA611 1024 34 256K TLA621 1028 34 1M TLA602 1025 68 256K TLA612 1025 68 256K TLA622 1029 68 1M TLA603 1026 102 256K TLA613 1026 102 256K TLA623 1030 102 1M TLA604 1027 136 256K TLA614 1027 136 256K TLA624 1031 136 1M ------------------------------------------------- TLA5000 Model Code Width Depth ------------------------------------------------- TLA5201 1041 34 8M TLA5202 1042 68 8M TLA5203 1043 102 8M TLA5204 1044 136 8M Slot Number Slot Number is the third field in the VXI Info Line. It contains the VXI slot number that the module is installed in. It must be unique for each module within a given mainframe. Legal values are 0-12. If TLA is configured as a benchtop mainframe, you will normally locate modules in slots 3-11 because the TLA721 benchtop controller, which doesn't appear in the configuration file, occupies slots 0-2. If TLA is configured as a portable mainframe, you will locate modules in slots 1-4. Each LA and DSO module occupies two slots, so, for example, you can't have one LA or DSO module in slot 3 and another in slot 4. The Expansion Interface Module occupies one slot. Logical Address Logical Address is the fourth field in the VXI Info Line. It must always be 255, which causes dynamic logical address assignment. The visastub.ini fragments provided are not set up to allow merging of multiple LA modules into a wider logical module. If you want to do this you will need to modify the "LA Merging Line" of the LA modules in your visastub.ini file. LA Merging Line --------------- Each LA module has the a line like the following: >SYST:CONF:WELD:RES?<>XXXX> ++++ Change the "XXXX" above to one of the following: NONE = not mergable MAST = connected to the module on the right SLAV = connected to the module on the left BOTH = connected to both adjacent modules Mergeable LA modules must be in adjacent slots. In a two-way merge the first module would be set to MAST and the second one would be set to SLAV. In a three-way merge the first module would be set to MAST, the middle one would be set to BOTH, and the third module would be set to SLAV. There are other merging rules. Look up "merge" in the TLA online help. There are a few other lines in the visastub.ini file that are variant and may be of interest. They are described below. Mainframe Type Line ------------------- Each visastub.ini file should have one line that identifies the mainframe type. It looks like this: [CONTROLLER X X] Use one of the following: [CONTROLLER 1 0] # TLA704 Mainframe [CONTROLLER 0 0] # TLA711 Mainframe [CONTROLLER 1 4] # TLA714 Mainframe [CONTROLLER 0 4] # TLA720 Mainframe [CONTROLLER 0 5] # TLA600 Mainframe without front panel [CONTROLLER 1 5] # TLA600 Mainframe with front panel [CONTROLLER 1 13] # TLA5200 Mainframe [CONTROLLER 1 14] # TLA714 Mainframe with upgraded controller [CONTROLLER 1 15] # TLA715 Mainframe [CONTROLLER 0 15] # TLA721 Mainframe [CONTROLLER 1 1] # TLA7012 Mainframe [CONTROLLER 0 1] # TLA7016 Mainframe Environment Lines ----------------- You should have the following lines in the file header: [DISPLAY_MESSAGE OFF] [TRACE ON] You should have the following line immediately following the VXI Info Line for each module section: [TERMINATION LF] Module Configuration Line ------------------------- Each module has a line like the following: >*IDN?<>TEKTRONIX,TLAXXX,B000000,SCPI:94.0 FVER:9.9 S> ++++++ Change the TLAXXX to a valid module type (see above). Must be consistent with the Model Code in the VXI Info Line. Everything else in the line is constant. LA Width Line ------------- Each LA module has a line like the following: >SYST:CONF:WIDT?<>XXX> +++ Change the XXX to a valid module width. Legal values are 34, 68, 102 or 136. Must be consistent with the Model Code in the VXI Info Line and the module type in the LA Module Configuration Line. Everything else in the line is constant. Remember that this is the width of the single, physical module, not the width of a logical merged module. LA Depth Line ------------- Each LA module has a line like the following: >SYST:CONF:DEPT?<>XXXXXXXX> ++++++++ Change the XXXXXXXX to a valid module depth. Legal values per module type are as follows: TLA7L*: 32768, 131072 TLA7M*: 524288 TLA7N*: 65536, 262144, 1048576, 4194304 TLA7P*: 16777216 TLA7Q*: 67108864 TLA7AA*: 131072, 524288, 2097152, 8388608, 33554432 TLA7AB*: 67108864 TLA7NA*: 131072, 524288, 2097152, 8388608, 33554432 TLA60*: 65536, 262144 TLA61*: 65536, 262144 TLA62*: 1048576 TLA520*: 524288, 2097152, 8388608 LA Sync Speed Line ------------------ Each LA module has a line like the following: >SYST:CONF:SPE?<>XXX> +++ Change the XXX to a valid maximum synchronous acquisition speed in MHz for the module. Legal values per module type are as follows: TLA7L*: 100, 200 TLA7M*: 100, 200 TLA7N*: 100, 200 TLA7P*: 100, 200 TLA7Q*: 100, 200 TLA7A**: 120, 235, 450 TLA7NA*: 235, 450 TLA6**: 100, 200 TLA520*: 235 LA Async Clock Period Line -------------------------- Each LA module has a line like the following: >SOUR:CLOC:PER?<>XXXXXXXXXXX> +++++++++++ Change the XXXXXXXXXX to a valid minimum asynchronous acquisition clock period in seconds for the module. Legal values per module type are as follows: TLA7L*: 4.0000e-009 TLA7M*: 4.0000e-009 TLA7N*: 4.0000e-009 TLA7P*: 4.0000e-009 TLA7Q*: 4.0000e-009 TLA7A**: 2.0000e-009 TLA7NA*: 2.0000e-009 TLA6**: 4.0000e-009 TLA520*: 2.0000e-009 MagniVu Sample Rate Line ------------------------ Each LA module has a line like the following: >SYST:CONF:TICL:HRES?<>XXX> +++ Change the XXX to the correct MagniVu sample rate in ps for the module. Legal values per module type are as follows: TLA7L*: 500 TLA7M*: 500 TLA7N*: 500 TLA7P*: 500 TLA7Q*: 500 TLA7A**: 125 TLA7NA*: 125 TLA6**: 500 TLA520*: 125 ------------------------ 16. EXPANSION MAINFRAMES ------------------------ An Expansion Mainframe can be simulated by placing simulated Expansion Interface Modules (TLA7XM) in the visastub.ini file. Unlike LA and DSO modules, which have many lines of data associated with them in the visastub.ini file, the information for an Expansion Interface Module consists of just one line - the VXI Info Line for that module type. The line is "4093 3584 255 V", where is replaced by the slot in the mainframe in which the module resides. All modules in the visastub.ini file that follow the Expansion Interface Module line will be placed in an Expansion Mainframe. To build a configuration consisting of a Mainframe containing one LA module and an Expansion Mainframe containing one DSO module, you'd put the module info in the visastub.ini file in the following order: Header LA Module (in the slot of your choice) XM Module (in, say, slot 12) DSO Module (in the slot of your choice) Here's an example with two Expansion Mainframes: Header LA Module in slot 3 (Mainframe) DSO Module in slot 5 (Mainframe) XM Module in slot 11 (Mainframe) LA Module in slot 1 (Expansion #1) LA Module in slot 7 (Expansion #1) XM Module in slot 12 (Mainframe) DSO Module in slot 1 (Expansion #2) In a real system, there are two Expansion Interface Modules for each Expansion Mainframe. One resides in the main mainframe, in any slot not occupied by the controller. The other must reside in slot 0 of the associated Expansion Mainframe. In a visastub.ini file that simulates expansion mainframes, the Expansion Interface Module that resides in slot 0 of the Expansion mainframe should not be included. Configurations with more than two Expansion Mainframes are invalid. ------------------------- 17. EXTERNAL OSCILLOSCOPE ------------------------- A connection to an external oscilloscope can be simulated with TLA Offline. Unlike internal modules, the external oscilloscope is not added to the system using the visastub.ini file. Instead, to add a simulated external oscilloscope to TLA, use the Add External Oscilloscope Wizard, just as you would on a real TLA mainframe. The added scope will persist across invocations of TLA Offline. ----------------------- 18. TLA OFFLINE SUPPORT FILES ----------------------- The following TLA support files are installed on your PC as part of TLA Offline: C:\Program Files\TLA 700\Documentation\TLAOfflineREADME.TXT This is the file you are reading right now. C:\Program Files\TLA 700\Tools\TLAVu\Fragments\ A subdirectory that contains fragments of the TLA configuration file (visastub.ini). There is one file for each unique type of TLA module. You can use these files as building blocks to create your own custom TLA configuration file (visastub.ini). Details above. NOTE: You after creating a new visastub.ini file you must open the TekVISA resource manager and press the update button. The reads the new list of VXI modules found in the visastub file. C:\Program Files\TLA 700\Tools\TLAVu\TLAFiles\ A subdirectory that contains a set of saved TLA system files (.tla files) that can be used to dynamically change the TLA configuration. To change the TLA configuration to use Load System to load one of these files. It is best to not disturb the contents of this directory. -The End-