A couple of additions to built-in functions for easier programming with traces
1. It would be helpful if the TraceInfo function returned the "Y wave" for a trace, as a keyed-list item, similar to how it reports "XWAVE". For "user-named" traces, the Y wave name is difficult to determine programmatically. I am guessing it's absence is simply the result of how easy it was to get the Y wave for a trace in the days before user-named traces, when traces were always <name of ywave>#<trace instance number>. Here's exactly the functionality I'd like:
yWaveRefForTrace = stringbykey("YWAVE",info) //yWaveRefForTrace now holds the name of the y wave for myTraceName plotted on myGraphName
2. It would also be helpful if the GetWindow WaveList keyword (i.e., the command "GetWindow myGraphName,wavelist") had an additional column containing: a semi-colon delimited list of the trace names associated with each wave. This would extent it's utility beyond just a helper with WinRecreation (option 2).
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It's currently hard to programmatically figure out what, if any, traces are associated with a particular wave. These additions would help make that easier.
For #1, you can use TraceNameToWaveRef, which has the benefit of returning the actual wave reference, not just a name + data folder.
October 9, 2019 at 11:50 am - Permalink
For number 1, use TraceNameToWaveRef to get a wave reference for the Y wave associated with a trace.
October 9, 2019 at 11:51 am - Permalink
Ah yes, that's true. Thanks for the pointer!
October 9, 2019 at 12:45 pm - Permalink
In reply to For number 1, use… by johnweeks
I think the date stamp should have some additional digits of precision so we better access how close a second you were.
Andy
October 9, 2019 at 01:02 pm - Permalink
In reply to For #1, you can use… by aclight
It would be helpful if this was mentioned in the TraceInfo documentation. I've used TraceNameToWaveRef on many occasions before, but this time TraceInfo came to my mind first and then I couldn't remember how to get the y wave name.
October 10, 2019 at 08:48 am - Permalink
One of the few things in the manual that isn't in the online help is a section in the Reference volume called, "Built-In Operations by Category".
Similar information is available in the Help Browser via the Advanced Filtering section of the Command Help tab. On my machine, the window comes up with that part of the window always open!
October 10, 2019 at 09:35 am - Permalink
In reply to One of the few things in the… by johnweeks
It's a good point that I should probably be using the help browser more often. Filtering for "trace" there also would have worked for me.
I nearly posted a request along these lines in my last post, which was going to be: That by default the "see also" section in the help for each function/operation has links that open the help browser, pre-filtered to show useful sets of functions/operations.
It would be helpful just to know what classification(s) a given function/operation has for "advanced filtering", so related functions/operations can be identified in the help browser.
October 10, 2019 at 09:53 am - Permalink