Data display, modification,
and tracking
Methods for viewing data in a
channel vary depending on how much data is in the channel. By default, the size of all channels in the
graph is set to only allow three datums to be shown because the number of
datums can often grow to an un-manageable size.
When the user wants to view more the rest of the data, the plus and
minus boxes found next to the channels can be clicked to expand the channel
length-wise (Figure 18). The plus and
minus boxes and the size of the channel displayed under the boxes all indicate
what is currently being shown in the channel.
Another option for viewing channel data is by right-clicking on a
channel and selecting “Show Channel Values” from the pop-up menu (the selection
is grayed-out when there is no data in the channel, etc). A dialog box displays all channel data, which
is useful when the width of the data exceeds a channel (Figure 19). Using a read-only text box prevents the user
from trying the change the data values, which must be done with the “Change
Channel Values” option in the pop-up menu. Furthermore, each datum is displayed
on a new line, which mirrors the vertical channel format of the graph window.
Figure 18:
An expanded channel that has highlighted values in yellow. The pop-up menu allows the user to change
channels values, highlight data, and show channel values in a dialog box.
Figure 19:
A dialog box for showing all of the data within a channel.
The graph window’s pop-up menu also
allows the user to change channel values and highlight and unhighlight
data. For the former task, a dialog box
similar to the “Show Channel Values” dialog appears, enabling the user to
modify all of the channel data at the same time (Figure 20). Entering in incorrect data is prevented and
causes an “Invalid value(s)” to appear directly below the text box. There are two ways of highlighting and
unhighlighting data: (1) right-clicking
on “Highlight Datum” (Figure 18) or “Unhighlight Datum” (Figure 21) depending
on whether the datum is currently highlighted and (2) double-clicking on a
datum, toggling the datum between a highlighted and unhighlighted state.
Figure 20: A dialog box for
modifying data within a channel.
Figure 21: Enabled and
disabled states of the graph window pop-up menu.