XIV - Test Definition Graphing
XIV.1 - Introduction
A graphical representation of any Test Definition in Vision can be made and then edited, printed and exported. This is called a Test Definition Graph. Recall that a Test Definition refers to a linear sequence of Vision Tasks that, taken together, form an experiment. There is usually a Test Definition under construction in the EDITOR window. All DataSets contain a single Test Definition, called the Current Test Definition (CTD), which is the experiment that is ready for execution within the DataSet. The DataSet may also contain any number of archived Executed Test Definitions (ETDs) that represent previous experiment executions in the DataSet. In an ETD the specific Test Definition is found in the "Experiment Design" folder. The "Experiment Data" folder contains the sequence of Tasks resulting from the Test Definition execution. This sequence may differ from the specific Test Definition.
Figure 1 - Various Test Definitions in Vision.
A Test Definition Graph is opened by right-clicking the appropriate Test Definition and selecting "Graph Editor Test Definition", "Graph CTD" or "Graph ETD Design" as appropriate.
Figure 2 - Initiate Test Definition Graphing.
A two-paned, scrollable window will open that details the Test Definition graphically. For the moment, the right pane contains a simple box labeled "Mini-Graph". The box contains the sequence of Tasks in the Test Definition represented only by the Task icons. In addition, links between Filters and their Target Tasks are presented as brown lines. Branch Task links are presented as blue lines.
Figure 3 - Initial Graph.
The left pane includes more detail. Each Task is assigned a box. The initial box color depends on Task type. In the upper right corner, the Task icon appears. [Note that some of these icons retain an older color then icons shown elsewhere in Vision as noted in Variable Vision Icons.] It is also Task-dependent. Default values are shown in Table 1.
|
Task Family Type
|
Box Color
|
Icon
|
|
Program Control
|
Blue
|
|
|
Hardware
|
Dark Green
|
|
|
Measurement
|
Light Green
|
|
|
External Instruments
|
Orange
|
|
|
Filter
|
Dark Brown
|
|
|
Long-Duration
|
Light Brown
|
|
|
Branch
|
Blue
|
|
|
Nesting Branch
|
Blue
|
|
Table 1 - Icons and Box Colors by Task Family Type.
Each Task in the main window indicates Task version, compilation date and Task family/Library location in italics along the top of the Task box. The remainder of the text in the box is provided by the Task and details Task configuration. All Tasks first present "Task Type:" and "Task Name:" information. Tasks that are Target Task for Filters add a brown rectangle in the lower right corner. The rectangle is labeled "Filter Target". Likewise, Tasks that are Branch Targets have a blue circle, labeled "Branch Target" to the middle right. Cascading link lines outside the box show the association between Filter and Branch Tasks and their Targets.
XIV.2 - Levels of Task Description
Tasks can be asked to provide three levels of detail to the Test Definition graph. Once a graph is created, the level is not changed. But the level may be selected before graphing and the selected level remains persistent - even between executions of Vision - until it is changed. The information level is selected by right clicking, as in Figure 2, then selecting "Minimize Graph Text", "Standard Graph Text" or "Full Graph Text". The level may also be changed by selecting "File-> Minimize Graph Output Text", "Standard Graph Output Text" or "Full Graph Output Text" in the main Vision menu.
Minimize Text.
In the minimized text representation, all Tasks provide the same information. This includes the italicized Task Version, compilation date and family and the Task Type and Task name entries. Since the size of the boxes is minimized, links and symbols indication associations between Filter and Branch Tasks and their Targets are eliminated. This information is still provided in the Mini-Graph of the right pane.
Figure 4 - Minimized Text.
Standard Text
This is the normal Task presentation. Tasks provide complete configuration information. Full links are provided between Branch and Filter Tasks and their Targets.
Figure 5 - Standard Text.
Full Text.
In the Full Text presentation Tasks add just a little bit more information. All Tasks add the Task configuration date to the bottom of the displayed Text. Hardware Tasks also add the sample Area (cm2) and Thickness (µm) information. Finally, Measurement Tasks present the configuration of the return signal amplification level.
Figure 6 - Full Text.
XIV.3 - Editing Task Graphics
Any Task entry may be selected for editing within the left pane. To select a Task, simply left-click within the Task box boundary. The Task is "Highlighted" by turning its box to a pink color, indicating that it has been selected.
Figure 7 - Selecting (Highlighting) a Task for Editing.
Once a Task is selected, it may be edited in two ways. First the color of the Task box may be changed to any desired value. Right-click anywhere within the Graph window and select "Change Task Box Color" from the popup menu. A standard Windows Color-Picker dialog will appear. The dialog may be expanded to allow any custom color to be selected or defined. Once the appropriate color is established in the dialog, click OK to close the Color-Picker and set the new Task box color.
Figure 8 - Changing a Task's Box Color.
The second change that can be made is that the descriptive Task text can be edited to append any additional information the user may choose to add. With the Task highlighted, right-click any-where in the Graph window and select "Append to Task Text" from the popup menu. A simple dialog will open that allows text to be entered. Text may be of any length and may include carriage returns. Once the text is edited, click OK to append it to the existing text provided by the Task. Once text is added it becomes "permanent". Subsequent repetitions of the process will continue to append to the previously-appended text.
Figure 9 - Appending Text to a Task's Graph Entry.
Any Task can be returned to its original color and/or text state by highlighting the Task, right-clicking and selecting "Reset Task Text to Default" and/or "Reset Task Color to Default".
XIV.4 - Adding Comments
An unlimited amount of text, including carriage returns, may be added to the Graph to further document the represented Test Definition as the user sees fit. Right-click anywhere in the Graph or Mini-Graph window and select "Graph Comments" in the popup menu. A simple text editor dialog will appear. Add any descriptive text desired, then click OK. A box containing the text will appear in the right window pane.
Text may be reedited to an unlimited degree by reopening the "Graph Comments" dialog. The current text will appear. It may be deleted and/or corrected and/or appended to. Once the dialog is closed, the update text will appear in the right pane. If all text is deleted, the Comments box will disappear.
Figure 10 - Adding Comments to a Graph.
Figure 11 - Editing Graph Comments.
XIV.5 - Saving and Recalling Graphs
Once the user is satisfied with the state of a Test Definition Graph, the graph may be permanently stored to a file and then recalled into a graph window at any future time. Right-click anywhere in the Graph and select "Save As...". The standard Windows browser dialog will appear. Navigate to the desired file path and set a file name. Note that the "*.grph" extension is filtered for, but the file may take on any name and file extension. Click Save to write the file.
Figure 12 - Saving a Graph to File.
A file may be reopened into any existing graph (overwriting the previous graph) by right-clicking anywhere in the Graph window and selecting "Open..." from the popup menu. A more common approach may be to select "File->Open a Test Definition Graph" from the main Vision menu. In this case a new graph window will be created and the file data will be written to it. Either of these actions will open a standard Windows browser dialog that should be used to navigate to and identify the file. The dialog will have the *.grph filter, but any file name may be used.
Figure 13 - Recalling a Graph from a File.
XIV.6 - Closing Graphs
Each time a Graph is closed by clicking X in its upper-right corner, the user is prompted to save the graph.
Figure 14 - Graph Save Prompt on Graph Closing.
If Yes is clicked, the save process of Figure 12 will be initiated. If No is clicked the Graph will simply close. Cancel causes the Graph to remain open. If Graph windows are open when Vision is closed, the user will be prompted by the dialog of Figure 14 once for each open Graph. However, <Ctrl-G> will close all open Graph windows without prompting.
XIV.7 - Printing
Any graph may be sent to any printer accessible to the Vision host simply by right-clicking in the Graph window and selecting "Print". A standard Windows printer configuration dialog will open that allows the number of copies and/or pages to print to be selected. Each printout will include at least to printed pages. The first page represents the right window pane with the Mini-Graph and any Comments. The remaining pages show the left pane.
Figure 15 - Initiating a Graph Printout.
The printout can be previewed by right-clicking and selecting "Print Preview...". Note that Print Preview has difficulty positioning the Task icons as is evident in the figures below. This problem does not extend to the actual printout, which should display correctly.
Figure 16 - Print Preview 1.
XIV.8 - Buffering Test Definition Graphs
Perhaps the most useful feature of Test Definition Graphing is the ability to copy the Graph to the Windows Clipboard, from which it may be pasted into any standard program such as Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Visio. Each of the Graph panes is independently buffered. To capture the right pane, right-click in the right pane and select "Copy to Clipboard". The open any suitable target program and click <Ctrl-V> or select Edit->Paste. The Mini-Graph and any Comments will appear just as in the Graph window.
Figure 17 - Copy and Paste the Right Graph Window Pane into Excel.
The process is the same for the left window pane. This time right-click in the left pane and select "Copy to Clipboard". Then paste into the desired program. Note the entire Test Definition Graph is buffered on the Clipboard as a single item. For paged programs such as Word, pasting a large Test Definition Graph may result in an object that is either clipped at the bottom or whose output is scaled too small for proper viewing. This is the case in the partial view of Excel output in Figure 20. In this case a minimized Text representation may be a better option. Such scaling will not be an issue in an unpaged program such as the partial Excel output example of Figure 19.
Figure 18 - Copy and Paste the Left Graph Window Pane into Word.
Figure 19 - Copy and Paste the Left Graph Window Pane into Excel.
XIV.9 - Conclusion
Test Definition Graphing provides the user an important documentation tool. It allows the experimenter to quickly and easily present his experiment design in any correspondence tool such as Word or PowerPoint. The experiment may be presented at three levels of detail and may be customized with additional text documentation. Along with the distribution of actual DataSets, this tool allows the user greater flexibility in sharing experimental processes.
