Transfer files from scope to PC via GPIB

[Alexander J.]

I want to transfer my hard-copy files from scope to my PC via GPIB link. I am using TDS684B. Is there any possible way. Thanks.
Saw

[mikeporter]

Check the manual for the scope, there should be a command for transfering a captured trace.

Mike...

[Alexander J.]

There is some commands that can transfer files to the GPIB port and I will try. But now I am worndering how I capture those files. I have no idea. In the manual, HardCopy:Port [gpib or serial]. But I have no idea how to save the data. But I will try and I think it is possible. Thanks Mike
Saw Naing Aye

[Dennis_Knutson]

I think the easiest thing to do is to transfer the trace data as Mike mentioned and forget about the hard copy stuff. The command is usually intended to dump a picture to a printer connected to either the GPIB or serial port and as such is not very useful if you want to do more than just look at a picture. The actual data in real numbers is obtained by a different command and should be there in the driver you're using. You can save the data in a spreadsheet file or database. If you do want hard copies of the data, then it's a simple matter to print a LabVIEW graph that displays it.

[Alexander J.]

There are a few commands for file transferring and in the programmer manual they never mention that we can transfer files to PC. But in the print command there is a command and we can send the file to GPIB port but I do not know how to capture it. I use MAX and communicate with the instrument and I can only write and cannot read. Actually I can save the data(waveform) in a spreadsheet file but what I want is I want the hardcopy because in the hardcopy, we can see the setting of the scope and cursor all that (because we need to show that to the customer). So I want to transfer the files via GPIB, there is a command "file: transfer port GPIB" but I do not know how to save the incoming data. I think you get what I mean. Some NI/TEK support
engineer should know. Anyway I will try again and thank for your support. My scope model is TDS684B.
Thanks.
Saw Naing Aye.

[mikeporter]

In terms of saving the data, forget that it's coming from a particular instrument (at this point that's an unnecessary bit of detail). There are just so many things you can do with data that comes into LV. You can plot it, analyze it, save it to disk, or print it out.

Save it however you, or your customer, wants to save it. There's nothing special with this data.

Mike...

[Alexander J.]

Now I have some commands to transfer files. But What I receive is a string and I convert it to binary data and it cant open. I have no idea. I got some data from the scope and it comes in binary format. How do I decode to view my waveform. Thanks.
Saw

[mikeporter]

The documentation for the command that transfers the data should tell you the format the data is in when it comes across. You might also want to check to see if there's a command for reading the data in ascii format, many people find that kind of data easier to use.

Mike...

[Dennis_Knutson]

I get what you mean but what I mean is that if all of the information is already visible in your LabVIEW app, then all you have to do is print the LabVIEW screen and save the bother of doing another transfer of data that's already in memory. If it's a matter of making your LabVIEW screen look exactly like the scope screen, that's certainly possible as well if appearances matter more than the data.

[Alexander J.]

Now I think my problem is I cannot capture the entire data that transfer from the scope. I may need to do some config. in my program but I do not know how. Because today I found out is The data I capture from the scope is not the complete data. >>My scope have its own floopy drive and i save my data into the scope disk drive and using LV, I open the file into character string. From there I can compare the two files, from floopy and from the data what i get from scope. I compare this two char string and the string I get from the scope is just a few line. So I think I cannot capture the whole data that transfer from the scope. So that is my problem. Anyway thanks for your help. I send e-mail to Tektronix to solve my probl
em.

Saw