XII - Editor Aide

Discussion

The single largest drawback in Vision is that the Editor is not a completely general tool for inserting and removing Tasks. This is because of the complex dependencies between Branch and Filter Tasks and their targets. Here are the things that can be done in the Editor:

Clear the Editor of all Tasks.
Append a Task or series of Tasks to existing Tasks in the Editor.
Remove the last Task from the Editor.
Prepend a Task or series of Tasks to the top of the Test Definition Task list in the Editor. This is done by copying the existing Test Definition to a temporary location (DataSet CTD or Customized Test), writing the Task(s) to be prepended to the Editor and then restoring the original list of Tasks from the temporary location.

Here are examples of things that cannot be done in the Editor:

Remove any Tasks from the interior of the Test Definition in the Editor. Only the last Task may be removed. This may be done repeatedly to remove a series of Tasks, but a Task cannot be removed that is not the last (bottom-most) Task. Tasks may be disabled by checking No Execute. This is functionally equivalent to removing them from the Test Definition.
Insert any Task into the interior of the Test Definition. Tasks may only be appended or prepended. Tasks are prepended by copying the existing Test Definition to a temporary location (DataSet CTD or Customized Test), writing the Task(s) to be prepended to the Editor and then restoring the original list of Tasks from the temporary location.
Move a Task's position in the Test Definition up or down.

For example, in Step 4 of Tutorial III.B you added an Automatic Branch Abort Task to an existing Test Definition. The Automatic Branch Abort Task must be inserted before the Branch Task. To do this you had to remove the Branch Task, insert the Automatic Branch Abort Task and then reinsert the Branch Task. A completely general Editor would allow the Automatic Branch Abort Task to be inserted without removing the Branch Task.

The Editor Aide tool is provided as a method for making the process of modifying complex Test Definitions simpler. The tools can be used to build complete Test Definitions from scratch. It can also move the Test Definition from the Editor into the Test Definition under construction in the tool. Tasks can only be appended to the end of the Test Definition under development, but then may be easily moved up or down in the list. Any Task may be immediately removed from the list. The Test Definition in the Editor may be completely cleared of Tasks from without the Editor Aide tool. Whether or not the Editor is cleared of Tasks, all Tasks in the Editor Aide list can be moved to the Editor, appending them to any existing Tasks.

This solution is still not completely general. Tasks are not actually constructed in the Editor Aide and dependencies between Tasks are not established. As Tasks are moved from the Editor Aide to the Editor, they must be configured. A few general parameters including Task Name, Max. Voltage, Sample Area (cm2), Sample Thickness (µm) and Comments can be assigned in the Editor Aide tool.

This tutorial will work with the Tutorial VIII.A Nesting Branch Loop tutorial Test Definition. This tutorial will perform several basic operations. For a complete details discussion, see the Editor List Dialog Instructions.

Operation

Step 1 - Ensure the Proper Test Definition is in the Editor

Close any open DataSets
Press <Ctrl-A> to remove all Tasks, if any, from the Editor.
In the DataSet Explorer, double-click the datasets->tutorials->Tutorial #8a - Nesting Branch explorer tree entry to open the DataSet.

Figure 1 - Open the Original DataSet.
Open the DataSet Archive.
Right-Click on the "General Nesting Branch:0 ETD and select "ETD to Editor" on the popup menu. The original Nesting Branch Loop Test Definition will appear in the Editor. The reason this tutorial uses that Test Definition is that it is complex and shows the Editor List to its best advantage.

Figure 2 - Recover the Archived Test Definition.

Step 2 - Initiate the Editor Aide Tool

Right-click in the Editor Window and select "Editor Aide" from the popup menu. The Editor Aide dialog will open.

Figure 3 - Launch the Editor Aide Tool.

Step 3 - Insert a General Information Task.

In the Program Control Tasks list box select "General Information".
Click Add Selected Task to Editor List. The General Information Task is added as the first Task in Editor List.

Figure 4 - Insert the General Information Task.
With the General Information Task selected in Task List, click in Task Name and type "Nesting Branch Loop Discussion". Comments could also be edited here. However, the Task will be configured when it is sent to the Editor. The General Information Task Comments field in the Task configuration dialog is much larger than the field, here, and, so, easier to work with.

Figure 5 - Assign the General Information Task Task Name.

Step 4 - Move the Editor Test Definition into the Editor Aide.

Click Load Editor Tasks to Editor List. The Tasks in the Editor Test Definition will be copied to, and identified by Task type in, Editor List.

Figure 6 - Copy the Editor Test Definition to Editor List.
Select the first "Hysteresis" Task in Editor List. Note that Task Name, Max Voltage, Sample Area (cm2), Sample Thickness (µm) and Comments are preserved from the configuration in the Editor. Any of these parameters can be adjusted, for the selected Task, in the Editor Aide tool. For example, changing Max. Voltage to 4.0 would change the initial parameter to 4.0 Volts for this Task only. Parameters that are not set in the Editor Aide will be set when the Test Definition in Editor List is moved into the Editor window.

Figure 7 - Copied Tasks Maintain Basic Parameter Configuration.

Step 5 - Insert an Automatic Branch Abort Task before the First Branch Task.

There is no real need for an Automatic Branch Abort Task in this Test Definition. However, it is included, here, for the purpose of illustration.

Select "Branch Abort" Program Control Tasks.
Click Add Selected Task to Editor List to put the Branch Abort Task at the bottom of the Editor List.
Click the "Branch Abort" Task in Editor List and set Task Name to "Ensure No More than Ten Loops".
Set Comments to "Tutorial #12 - Abort the first Branch Task if "Loop Counter" = '10'.".
Click repeatedly until "Branch Abort" is above the first instance of "Branch" in Editor List.

Figure 8 - Insert a Branch Abort Task.

Step 7 - Remove the Second Hysteresis Task

Every aspect of the original Nesting Branch Test Definition configuration was important in demonstrating the various aspects of Nesting Branching. For the purpose of the Editor Aide tool, the actual composition of the Test Definition in Editor List is less important. This step removes one of the Hysteresis measurements.

Select the second "Hysteresis" in Editor List.
Click Delete Selected. The "Hysteresis" entry will be removed from the Editor List control.

Figure 9 - Remove the Second Hysteresis Task from Editor List.

Step 8 - Save the Test Definition to a File

The Test Definition, as currently configured, with the Editor List sequence and preserved Task Names Max Voltage, Sample Area (cm2), Sample Thickness (µm) and Comments, can be saved to a file with a *.elx extension. The file can then be read to reload the Editor List at any time.

Click Browse to File.
In the standard Windows File browser dialog that appears, navigate to an appropriate location and assign an appropriate file name.
Click Save. The Windows browser will close and the file path and file name will appear in the unlabeled test box under Browse to File. Since the file specified in the unlabeled text box does not exist, Save Editor List to File is enabled and Load Editor List From File is disabled.
Click Save Editor List to File. The file will be written. Since the file specified in the unlabeled text box now exists, Save Editor List to File is disabled and Load Editor List From File is enabled.

Figure 10 - Save the Test Definition to a File.

Step 9 - Load the Test Definition from a File

Click Browse to File.
In the standard Windows File Explorer that opens, navigate to and select an existing *.elx file.
Click Save. The file path and file name will appear in the unlabeled text box. Save Editor List to File will be disabled because the file exists. Load Editor List From File will be enabled for the same reason. These first three steps are not strictly necessary, since the file is already identified in the unlabeled text box.
Click Load Editor List From File. The file will be opened, read and closed. The Test Definition in the file will be appended to any Tasks already listed in Editor List. Preconfigured parameters are preserved.

Figure 11 - Recover a Test Definition from a File.

Step 10 - Clear Editor List and Reload from the File

Click Clear All to remove all Tasks from the Editor List control. Clear All, Delete Selected and Save Editor List to File are all disabled. (Note that there are some inconsistencies in the Editor Aide tools. Most are evident here. Although there are no Tasks in Editor List, Move Editor List to Editor is still enabled. Also Comments remains enabled and all preconfiguration controls - Task Name, Comments, etc - continue to show the values of the last-selected Task. All of these are minor issues that will be corrected in future releases - perhaps the release that you are currently working with.)
Since the Test Definition file exists and is already selected, click Load Editor List From File to reload the Test Definition.

Figure 12 - Clear Editor List and Reload the Test Definition from the File.

Step 11 - Clear the Editor Window and Move the Editor List Test Definition to the Editor

If the Test Definition configured in the Editor Aide Tool were transferred into the Editor window, it would be appended to the Tasks already in the Editor Window. For this demonstration, that is not the purpose of the process. The intent is to replace the Test Definition in the Editor. Therefore, the Editor must first be cleared of all Tasks.

Click Remove Last Editor Task. The "Multi-Volt Hysteresis Nesting Loop" Task will be removed from the Test Definition in the Editor window. This step is provided only to demonstrate the tool. The next step will remove all Tasks from the Editor window, making this step unnecessary.

Figure 13 - Remove the Last Task from the Editor Test Definition.
Click Clear Editor. All Tasks will be removed from the Editor window. Clear Editor and Remove Last Editor Task will be disabled.

Figure 14 - Remove the Last Task from the Editor Test Definition.
Click Move Editor List to Editor. Each Task will be moved, in order and one-by-one, into the Editor. As each Task is moved, it will open its configuration dialog. Each Task must be individually configured. Once in the Editor and with the Editor Aide closed, Tasks may be reopened to validate and correct configuration per usual. Note that, because of the persistence of parameters, many Tasks will be preconfigured, or mostly preconfigured, making the configuration process simpler. However, This same persistence will make some Tasks incorrectly preconfigured so that care must be taken to ensure that all Tasks are properly configured.

Figure 15 - Move the Editor List into the Editor.

XII - Editor Aide

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