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AEWinPost Manual
AEWinPost Manual
AEwinPost
Advanced Acoustic Emission Data Analysis Software
for Acoustic Emission Applications
MANUAL
Rev. 4
July 2012
AEwinPost Manual
AEwinPost Manual
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1
About AEwinPost............................................................................................................................. 5
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 7
4
Data Display in AEwinPost ............................................................................................................ 11
4.1
Pages ................................................................................................................................................ 11
4.2
Plots - Graphs .................................................................................................................................... 13
4.3
Plot Properties Dialog ......................................................................................................................... 15
4.4
Plot Types .......................................................................................................................................... 17
4.5
Background Plots ............................................................................................................................... 24
4.6
Statistics Display ................................................................................................................................ 25
4.7
Data Table ......................................................................................................................................... 26
4.8
Data Table Properties ......................................................................................................................... 27
4.9
Basic Waveforms Display ................................................................................................................... 28
4.10
Advanced Waveform/DSP Display ...................................................................................................... 29
4.11
Wave Properties Dialog ...................................................................................................................... 32
5
5.1
5.2
5.3
5.4
5.5
7
7.1
7.2
7.3
7.4
7.5
8
FILE Menu ...................................................................................................................................... 47
8.1
New Analysis...................................................................................................................................... 47
8.2
Export - Data ...................................................................................................................................... 48
8.3
Export Waveform as Text ................................................................................................................. 49
8.4
Export Waveform as Text (All Channels) .......................................................................................... 49
8.5
Get File Info ....................................................................................................................................... 50
8.6
Print ................................................................................................................................................... 50
8.7
Print Preview ...................................................................................................................................... 51
8.8
Print Setup ......................................................................................................................................... 51
8.9
Preferences ........................................................................................................................................ 51
8.10
Exit .................................................................................................................................................... 52
9
EDIT Menu ..................................................................................................................................... 53
9.1
Undo .................................................................................................................................................. 53
9.2
Cut (Selection) ................................................................................................................................... 53
9.3
Copy - Selected Data.......................................................................................................................... 53
9.4
Copy - Waveform Data ....................................................................................................................... 53
9.5
Copy - Graph Image ........................................................................................................................... 53
9.6
Copy - Page Image ............................................................................................................................. 53
9.7
Copy - Plot Settings ............................................................................................................................ 54
9.8
Paste - Plot Settings ........................................................................................................................... 54
9.9
Delete Selected Data ....................................................................................................................... 54
9.10
Delete - Time Segment ....................................................................................................................... 54
9.11
Delete Data Files ............................................................................................................................. 55
9.12
Delete Channels .............................................................................................................................. 55
9.13
Find ................................................................................................................................................... 55
9.14
Select - Record (Hit) ........................................................................................................................... 55
9.15
Select - All Records ............................................................................................................................ 56
9.16
Select - All Displayed in Active View ................................................................................................... 56
9.17
Select Records (Hits) with Waveforms .............................................................................................. 56
9.18
Records from File ............................................................................................................................... 56
9.19
None .................................................................................................................................................. 56
9.20
Invert Selection .................................................................................................................................. 56
Copyright 1999-2012 Mistras Group Hellas ABEE
AEwinPost Manual
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AEwinPost Manual
About AEwinPost
Features
*AEwinPost comes with full support for all PAC (DTA, TDA and WFS) acoustic emission data
files (SPARTAN, MISTRAS, DiSP, PCI-2 and Pocket-AE). It includes all basic software
functions such as: *custom Page Interface function allows the user to create pages and
choose their layout effortlessly * 2D plots like scatter, density (color-by-value), line, bar,
cumulative plots and 3D plots like scatter and distribution plots with plot management,
graphical filtering, background plots and tabular data views *export or copy plot and page
images *multiple data file loading*hit sorting/time ordering *hit selection and hit
correspondence in all views *data/time deletion * complex data filters *statistics (Min, Max,
Mean, Skewness, Kurtosis etc. for all data sets) *copy/paste operations *advanced waveform
viewing/handling *FFT, Power Spectrum * Waveform Feature Extraction.
AEwinPost Manual
Introduction
AEwinPost is a WINDOWS software package, specially designed and optimized for the analy sis of
Acoustic Emission data.
A typical AEwinPost screen. A new AEwinPost document (containing AE data from a PAC DTA file) has been
created and a single page (Page 1) with 4 views. Each view is a separate graph. A background plot in the upper
left view shows Parametric values (load in this example). Correlation, cumulative and energy rate plots have
also been created. Pages such as the above can be created and customised in a matter of seconds. A Page can
be configured to show, in practically any arrangement, graphs, waves, tables and statistics in the various views .
One of AEwinPost unique and powerful features is also shown: Data Selection (circled points). A certain burst
of AE activity has been observed in the upper left time plot. The data have been selected using the mouse
(assisted by zooming in that plot region). The selection is shown on other plots (correlation Counts-Amp lower
left view) assisting the user to make decisions regarding their nature.
Acoustic Emission (AE) data are in general complex in nature. Especially where complicated AE
signatures are present, (e.g. in cases where high background noise exists, or in composite structures
where several failure mechanisms have to be discriminated), conventional graphical analysis may not
provide the necessary resources for discrimination. In such cases, automated statistical techniques
extend the AE users capabilities in identifying the hidden structure and correlat ion of data categories
in a multidimensional space. AEwinPost has numerous tools for exploring the properties of data.
Although AEwinPost is a tool for solving complex problems, it is important to understand that the
quality of the results will always depend on the quality of the AE data. If the data acquisition process is
inadequate, resulting in poor quality data, the complexity of the problem increases dramatically,
resulting in poor discrimination performance. In other words, if the AE mechanisms and the respective
physical phenomena are not separable with the available data, it should not be expected that
AEwinPost will provide an answer. Furthermore, source characterization in AE is a reverse problem,
which, in some cases, results in ambiguous solutions and the user should not expect AEwinPost to
always provide the optimum solution.
Some of the unique features of AEwinPost include the following:
Specially designed and optimized for AE (native support for PAC DTA, TDA and WFS data files) .
Copyright 1999-2012 Mistras Group Hellas ABEE
AEwinPost Manual
AE Training and Reading Materials: Users who are not very familiar with Acoustic Emission theory and
principles are invited to enroll in relevant Physical Acoustics Corporation (PAC) or Mistras Group
Hellas ABEE training courses. The Level I and Level II courses are especially important and are
carried out on a regular basis at PAC headquarters in Princeton Junction, NJ. In addition, PAC sells a
very comprehensive text on Acoustic Emission, Acoustic Emission Testing, Nondestructive Testing
Handbook, Volume 5, Second Edition, from the American Society of Nondestructive Testing (ASNT).
AEwinPost Manual
AEwinPost supports loading and processing data files. The maximum number of hits loaded in a
AEwinPost document, is limited only by the computers available memory (1.5GB maximum in both 32bit and 64-bit Operating Systems) and processing speed for practicality purposes.
Although AEwinPost screens can be easily inserted in other Windows applications, by Copy-Paste
operations, additional export functions are implemented for specific tasks. AEwinPost supports many
different types of data transfer:
Copy Image (Ctrl+I): The currently active graph is placed in the clipboard as a bitmap (raster
format) that can be inserted in other Windows applications.
Copy Image as WMF (Windows Metafile): The currently active graph is placed in clipboard as a
windows metafile (WMF). Windows metafile is a graphics file format that may contain both vector
and bitmap components. WMF images scale almost perfectly in eve ry direction (width and height)
without losing any graphical detail thus giving better quality images than its counterpart raster
formats (like bitmap, JPG and others).
Copy Feature Values (Ctrl+C): The feature values of the selected hits (e.g. from a scatter plot) can
be copied to the clipboard as text, and then be pasted to other Windows applications such as Excel.
This action copies the entire hit record and not only the two features of the selection graph.
Copy Text (Ctrl+C): Statistics and relevant information presented in text format can be selected,
copied to the clipboard and transferred.
Copy Data: Transfers tabular data from graphs (any type) to clipboard. The data are copied in the
same manner as they plotted in the graph.
Copy Bin Values: Transfers bin values from corresponding bin-based graphs (distribution graphs,
histograms, etc.) to clipboard.
Copy Page Image: Copies the entire (all plots) current page to the clipboard. This command is
accessible via the Page context menu (Right-click on Page tab)
Export As Image (Graph, Page, All Pages): These three commands are available in the View-Export
As Image menu and allow the user to save on disk the current graph in different file formats the
current page or all pages. Supported file formats are BMP, JPG, and multipage TIF and EPS
(Encapsulated PostScript).
AEwinPost supports most Windows functions, such as print preview, printer selection etc., resulting in
convenient printing and reporting.
AEwinPost Manual
Acoustic Emission (AE) analysts are used to working with multiple graphs in order to discover the
correlation between signal classes, evaluate the damage accumulation in a structure, describe a
process, etc. Furthermore, in modern AE practices it is sometimes desirable to simultan eously view
common AE graphs (scatter, cumulative etc.), the feature values, descriptive statistics and/or
waveforms.
The basic concept in AEwinPost is that data is presented in Pages, which can contain more than one
View (i.e. sections). ANY number of Pages can be used. There are three types of Views.
The general AEwinPost View can contain the following types of graphs:
As Views are sections of a Page, and each Page can contain one to twenty Views each
independent from the other, each Page can contain any combination of the mentioned plot types.
To select the type of view use the VIEW-Active View set of commands. This will setup the
basic type and then use the plot properties for each type (right-click on a view) for
customizing the view further.
4.1
Pages
AEwinPost arranges views (graphs, statistics, and tables) in Pages. These are just like the pages of a
book or the worksheets of any spreadsheet software (e.g. MS Excel). Each Page can contain any
number of Views. The Page Properties dialog has all functions to setup Views and the way these are
arranged on the Page. Pages can be named so that the user can easily find the Page of interest and
can be navigated quickly backward and forward with the F7 and F8 buttons.
All information regarding the Pages used in any data analysis is saved in the AEwinPost Workspace
(NWL).
A good example is the case when the user wants to separate the plots as Time Plots, Cor relation Plots
and Statistics Views. Several Time plots can be created and assigned to Page 1 for example, which
can be renamed as Time Plots Page. The equivalent can be done on a Correlation Plots Page and
a Statistics Views Page. Now the user has separated the plots in a very definitive way and the
selection of each page is made easy through the pages navigation tabs at the bottom of the screen.
All Page operations are through the View menu or the Page context menu (Right-click on the page tab
at the bottom of the screen).
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A AEwinPost screen with three Pages named according to the data shown in each page. Navigation to the data views
of interest is made easy by the navigation tabs with descriptive user defined names at the bottom of the screen.
Right-click on any Page tab to display the Page Properties dialog to set the number of views
and their arrangement. On the Page Preview the user can left-click and drag the mouse over
Views to merge them and thus easily achieve complex View arrangements.
(views) is shown.
the Preview.
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4.2
Plots - Graphs
AEwinPost graph Views allow the user to work with typical AE graphs, such as scatter plots, time
distribution scatter plots, statistical distribution plots, cumulative plots. Additionally, principal
components projection scatter plots can be viewed simultaneously with the common AE graphs. Graph
type selection is made either through the graph menu or through the graph toolbar. Point co -ordinates
can be traced by dragging the mouse cursor over the active plot. Cursor values are displayed in the
status bar.
To choose the type of plot shown in a View use the View-Active View set of functions. These
change the view to one of the three main categories. Another View type is the Data Table (View
Data Table).
New Pages with Views can be created from the View-Page-Add or Insert commands. The user is
then prompted to select the number of Views and their arrangement on that Page. At any point
later the number of Views on that Page and their arrangement can be changed.
Right-click on any View (graph, table etc) to get the context menu with various commands (data to
view, projection etc) and to display the Properties dialog box which allows various formatting
actions (in figure below: The main view of the AEwinPost Plot Properties dialog box.). This
formatting box contains nearly all choices regarding the selected plot. The bottom section shows a
preview of the plot. On the left of the preview are the y-axis properties (feature, log scaling, min /
max values) and on the bottom are the x-axis properties (feature, log scaling, min / max values,
bins). Other functions on the lower part of the plot are the Invert Axis button, the Graphical Zoom
factor and the application or not of the selected filters (if any).
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
Four AEwinPost plots: (a) scatter plot of data (duration vs. amplitude), (b) amplitude d istribution plot (c)
cumulative hits vs. time, and (d) correlation-matrix based projection of the preprocessed data. Note that that
each graph is on a different Page of the same AEwinPost document and that the Header is shown in all
Pages with file information.
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The AEwinPost Plot Properties dialog. On the right ALL option tabs for several graph adjustments are
shown expanded. Available selections depend on plot, data set, set version and projection shown.
4.3
From any plot context menu the user can display the Plot Properties dialog where all relevant settings
can be adjusted.
4.3.1 Plot Properties Window Main Buttons
Features: A pull-down menu for each axis allows the user to view available features and select the
desired one.
Range: The range of each axis is automatically set to the min and max contained in the data
file(s). Checking the User Defined box the user can enter other limits in the min and max text
boxes.
Scale: The user can specify logarithmic axis scaling by checking the Log Scale boxes. This option
is available only when the values of the feature in that axis are greater than zero.
Invert Axes: Pressing this button quickly transfers all x-axis properties to y-axis and vice-versa.
No Filters: Check this option to de-activate filters specified in the Graphical Filter tab menu.
Events: Check this option to activate Location Data Viewing (Events Tab).
Time Format: When the selected feature is Time, a pull-down menu is available allows the user to
select the desired time format - Default (seconds), Full Date, Minutes, Hours or Days.
HDD: Checking the HDD check box shows all Hit Driven Data in the current plot.
TDD: Checking the TDD check box shows all or a percentage of (see below) Time Driven Data in
the current plot. This option is activated only if TDD are present in the original data file and the
user has chosen to load it. User can simultaneously show both HDD and TDD data in current plot if
both HDD and TDD check boxes are checked and there is a TDD feature with same name as
selected HDD feature.
TDD (%) to Display: Use this option to reduce the amount (%) of TDD shown on a plot. This can
drastically improve graphics speed in plots with TDD. AEwinPost uses a special downsampling
method to reduce data applied to each active TDD channel separately and not the TDD data as a
whole (this is an advanced feature over older versions of AEwinPost).
Time Marks: Any available Time Marks and Threshold Change messages will be shown in the
current plot. This option is activated when Time Marks exist in the original data file and the current
plot is a time plot. Time Marks are shown in gray whereas Threshold Changes are shown in light
red.
Plot Type: The plot type pull-down menu allows the user to select the type of plot. A complete list
is given in the figure above (Plot Type Selection.). For faster selection the pull down menu can be
activated and the type of plot chosen by its corresponding number.
Color Mode: This option defines the coloring scheme that it will be used on the plot. The available
options are: None, Channels, Feature and Y-Value.
Block type plot: This option refers to cumulative (using bins) plot and defines the smoothness of
the curve.
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Max-Min: Refers to all cumulative plots and when checked produces a max-min plot instead of the
standard min-max.
Log Color: This applies to Density plots and it is a way to view the density plot in a logarithmic
color scale.
Keep bins at zoom: When selected the plot will maintain the number of bins while zooming.
Bins: The user can change the number of bins used for the x-axis in distribution and cumulative
plots. Note that the desired # of bins may not always be possible depending on view s ize etc. in
which case the software will automatically switch to the max allowable number and indicate the
change on the plot.
Bin Value: This is the value shown in each bin. It applies to all plots using bins (distribution,
cumulative etc.). The available choices are SUM, MIN, MAX, AVERAGE, MIN-MAX. For more
details see in figure above The main view of the AEwinPost Plot Properties dialog box
Filter: The three check boxes, Filter 1, Filter 2 and Filter 3 activate the corresponding filter.
Logical mode: The AND check box makes the three filters interact with a logical AND operation.
When this box is un-checked the filters interact with a logical OR operation.
Feature: The two pull-down menus allow the user to specify the features to be used for filtering.
These could be ANY features contained in the data set.
Range: The min and max text boxes allow the user to specify the limits for filtering. Only records
with values falling within the limits will be shown on the current plot
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AEwinPost Manual
Legend: The user can choose to remove the legend (either class labels, class numbers, or color
palette depending on plot type) on the right side of a plot by un-checking the Legend check box.
Units: The user can choose to hide/show the units of the feature (if applicable) near the feature
label by un-checking/checking the Units check box.
Axis: The user can choose to show the feature name near the axis label by un -checking/checking
the Axis check box.
3D Options: The user can input or read current rotation and scale of the 3D plot.
Set Defaults: The user can apply current settings in all graphs available in AEwinPost. Also, these
settings are used for new created graphs even after closing current or opening a new AEwinPost
application.
Align Vertically: Aligns plot to its above. A plot can be aligned to its above plot if only both plots
reside in same page column. Note, that Align graphs global option (see Preferences dialog in File
menu) should also be selected.
Y axis on the right: Allows the user to show Y axis on the right of the graph.
4.3.8 Events Tab
This tab menu contains options for filtering location information. For these to be selectable the Events
check box in the main section of the Plot Properties window must be checked.
All: The two check boxes, All Hits and All Groups when checked show ALL hits and location
groups respectively. To select a subset of hits or groups these boxes must first be un -checked.
Selection: The two scroll windows containing hits and groups allow the user to select a subset of
these for viewing in the current plot.
4.4
Plot Types
Typical scatter plot. Note the information on the plot title. This in formation is shown on all plot types. a)
Data Set, b) Set Version, c) % data filters (not shown) (if any), d) X-Y axes features, e) classification (if
any). This information helps the user quickly identify what data is shown in each plot. Selected data are
shown in a circle.
)
Copyright 1999-2012 Mistras Group Hellas ABEE
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AEwinPost Manual
Distribution plots showing number of hits (y-axis) vs amplitude (x-axis): Upper left: Distribution Bar Solid,
Upper middle: Distribution Bar Empty, Upper right: Distribution Stacked Bar (%), Lower Left: Distribution
Contour Line, Lower middle: Distribution Stacked Bar, Lower right: Distribution Histo gram.
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AEwinPost Manual
Distribution (Horizontal) plots showing number of hits (y -axis) vs amplitude (x-axis): Upper left:
Distribution Bar Solid, Upper middle: Distribution Bar Empty, Upper right: Distribut ion Stacked Bar (%),
Lower Left: Distribution
Contour Line, Lower middle: Distribution Stacked Bar, Lower right: Distribution Histogram.
NOTE: In any plot using bins the user can select the value of the bin ( Bin Value field in plot properties
dialog). This can take the values Sum, Min, Max, Average, Min-Max. In figure below (Histogram
channel plots demonstrating the various bin value functions. ) shows an example of the use of different
bin values in plots using bins.
4.4.3 Cumulative Plot
(Views Toolbar:
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AEwinPost Manual
Histogram channel plots demonstrating the various bin value functio ns. The top left shows the Min-Max
bin value (the bar extends from the minimum value found in it to the maximum). The top right shows the
Min bin value (bars extend to the minimum value found in the bin). The bottom left shows the Max bin
value (bar extends to the maximum value found in the bin). The bottom right shows the Average bin value
(bar extends to the average of all values found inside the bin).
Cumulative Plots. Upper left: Cumulative (using bins) Block type plot, Upper middle: Cumulative (using
bins) non-block type plot, Upper right: Cumulative (no bins) block type, Lower Left: Cumulative (using
bins) Max-min/block type plot, Lower middle: Cumulative (using bins) Max -min/non-block type plot, Lower
right: Cumulative (no bins) Max-min/non-block type plot. Observe that a selection has been made on the
Cumulative (no bins) plots.
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4.5
Background Plots
Background plots can be added to any plot using the commands available in the plot conte xt menu
accessible by right-clicking on any graph view.
4.5.1 Background Plot - None
If the user has specified a Background Plot for a plot, this option removes it, leaving only the
foreground plot.
Scatter Plot (upper left), Distribution Bar Solid (upper right), Cumulative Plot (lower left) and Projection
Scatter Plot.
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AEwinPost Manual
4.6
Statistics Display
AEwinPost statistics are presented as text views and include correlation matrices, data statistics, and
feature statistics. A typical statistics window is shown in the picture below. Any graph window or view
may be dynamically replaced with statistics text output and vice versa.
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AEwinPost Manual
4.6.1 Feature
(Views Tool Bar:
Replaces the currently Active View with a text view presenting Features descriptive statistics
calculated from the Active Data Set. For each feature in the set, the Min, Max, Mean, Standard
Deviation, Skewness, and Curtosis values are listed per available class.
Note: the active data set remains the same.
4.6.2 Channel
(Views Too Bar:
Replaces the currently Active View with a text view presenting Channel statistics calculated from the
Active Data Set. These include Total, Min, Max, Average etc. for each feature on each channel and an
amplitude distribution table at steps of 5dB for each channel.
4.7
Data Table
The active data set feature values and classification results are displayed in a spreadsheet -like
window. The selection of a starting position and range helps the user to identify sections of interest
quicker.
In an active Data View window the user can select records (as in scatter plots) by point , click and drag.
Right-click on the Data Table to display the context menu with various functions for formatting the table
and the Properties dialog.
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AEwinPost Manual
4.8
This dialog allows the user to set-up the current wave view. Almost all formatting options for a wave
view are in this dialog.
OK: Confirm changes and close the Data Table Properties window.
Cancel: Discard all changes and close the dialog
Save to TXT: Saves the data shown in the Data Table to an ASCII file. The user is prompted to
choose a folder and file name.
The basic columns to display are selected here. These are the columns that appear with grey in
the table and contain some important information.
Selected Only: Show only selected hits (records) in the current table.
Font: By pressing the Font Select button the user is presented with a standard font selection
dialog where the desired font can be selected and applied to each plot.
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4.9
Waveforms can be viewed in a separate window. The waveform and channel number, the time of first
threshold crossing and the corresponding hit number are all included in the window. Checking the
scale box can activate the Auto-scale option. Automatic correspondence between the waveform and
the respective hit can be achieved by checking the Auto Select option. For manual selection of
records based on waveforms two more options exist: Select Hit selects the record corresponding to
the current waveform, replacing any previous selection. Add to Selection appends the currently
selected record(s) with the record corresponding to the current waveform.
Note that to view the waveform of an individual record (if any) the user can double click on that
record in any scatter plot. The basic waveform window will display that waveform.
If waveforms exist and the user double-clicks on a point on a scatter plot the corresponding waveform will
be shown in a pop-up window. Note selected (double-clicked) point on scatter plot and waveform.
Allows the user to add the AE hit associated with the displayed
waveform to the current selection (all related scatter plots will be
updated).
Copyright 1999-2012 Mistras Group Hellas ABEE
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The Waveform Plot Properties dialog allows the user to configure the plot. The lower part of the
dialog displays a preview of the plot and the axes mode options. The axis modes provide a means of
managing multiple Waveform Views. In Auto Range the axes automatically adjust to best display the
data contained in the plot. In Use Range the user sets the limits in non-overalaping mode - which
will remain constant for any waveform displayed.
Various Waveform Views. Single waveform display (upper left), single FFT magnitude display (lower right),
Copyright 1999-2012 Mistras Group Hellas ABEE
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multi-power spectrum 3D display colored by class (lower left), and multiple waveform display (upper right).
For Zoom to be active the Axes Mode boxes must all be unchecked or the Syncro Selection option
be checked. When all are unchecked any zooming action will be applied to one waveform in a multi waveform, non-overlapping display. If the Syncro Selection option is checked then any zooming
action will be applied to ALL waveforms displayed in a Waveform View. The above actions can be
applied to each axis independently (see picture below). When in zoom mode (zoom button active) the
waveform plot can be scrolled (plot panning) using the arrow keys or the mouse wheel.
Waveform zooming. The left window displays five waveforms in user-defined y-range and syncro selection in
zooming on the x-range. The window on the right displays FFT magnitude with independent zooming and
panning for each of the five waveform-FFTs.
).
Selecting one of these from the Wave Toolbar will convert the currently active window or split window
view to a waveform view.
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Multiple Waveform (upper left), Multiple FFT Magnitude (upper right), Single R ectified Waveform Zoomed
(lower left) and Single Power Spectrum (lower right).
).
Selecting one of these options will convert the currently active window or split window view to a
waveform view displaying the appropriate frequency plot.
OK: Confirm changes and close the Waveform Plot Properties window.
Cancel: Discard all changes and close the Waveform Plot Properties window.
Apply: Apply the changes made without closing the Waveform Plot Properties window.
Default: Apply a set of default settings for the current waveform plot.
Use Range: Select this check box when setting user-defined axes range. The values entered
apply to all displayed plots in multi waveform views (as in the example). Checking the Use Range
box activates the min and max text boxes and the user can enter values for the limits.
Auto Range: This function, when checked, automatically sets the scale of the two axes to fit each
displayed waveform.
Syncro Selection: This function, when checked, synchronizes the scaling of the corresponding
axis when zooming in a waveform of a multi waveform view.
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Filters: Check this option to activate feature-based filters specified in the Graphical Filter tab
menu.
Zoom: This function allows the user to set the graphical zoom factor for the plot
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Mouse Operations
AEwinPost allows the user to perform certain operations using the mouse. These operations are
described in this section.
5.1
AEwinPost allows you to have several views to display the dat. Views and Pages are not identical,
since a Page can contain several views. When selecting a Page that contains a single view, this
automatically becomes the active view while the data set displayed in it becomes the active data set.
When selecting a Page containing several Views, the user can select the active view (and active data
set) by a single left-click on the View. A red border around a view will indicate that it is the currently
active view.
Since several data sets coexist in AEwinPost, your selection of active data set affects the options that
are available at any given time. For example, if the currently active view displays data set X (i.e. X is
the current active data set), and you select to execute a statistics option, the produced statist ics will be
calculated based on Xs data.
5.2
Cursor Coordinates
When the mouse cursor is moved on a graph (plot) view of any type, the AEwinPost status bar is
updated with an estimate of the current original coordinate values with respect to axes and graph t ype.
5.3
To zoom in an area of a plot, select the View containing the desired plot and activate the Zoom In tool
from VIEW Zoom In or from the toolbar (
). Note that the mouse pointer changes to a lens when
moved over the selected plot. While pressing the left mouse button, drag the mouse to form a
rectangle containing the area to be zoomed. Releasing the button will cause the plot to automatically
reformat to show the selected region. This has the same effect as opening the Plot Properties window
and selecting User Defined axes ranges, although the mouse operation is much simpler. To zoom-out
(one level before the Zoom), use the VIEW Zoom Out command or press the
button or open
the Plot Properties window and deselect the User Defined option on the plot axes. To restore the plot
in each original form use the Display Whole Plot button under the Zoom Out button.
When zooming, make sure to deselect the zoom tool before proceeding with other operations (e.g.
record selection). Press
to deactivate the box zoom tool.
When a zoom action has been performed on a plot and the zoom function is active, the arrow keys
can be used to scroll the plot in any direction (plot panning). The axis will retain the zoom and will shift
according to the direction specified by pressing the arrow keys for details about zooming and panning
in Waveform and Segment FFT views).
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Plot zoom examples. The two left views show the effect of a zoom action on a scatter plot (It can also be applied to
any other type of data plot). The upper left view shows the un -zoomed data with the area to be zoomed (dashed line)
and the lower left view shows the result of the action (notice that the zoom button is active). On the right two views is
a similar action on a waveform view. The upper right is the un -zoomed waveform with the intended zoom area
(dashed line). The lower right window is the result of the action. For both cases (scatter and waveform plots) pressing
the arrow keys while the zoom button is pressed, will cause the axes to scroll (plot panning) to the direction indicated
by the arrow keys.
5.4
Mouse Selections
AEwinPost has two main mouse select modes. The Hit Selection Mode and the Event Selection Mode.
The Hit Select Mode is the default mode unless the user chooses otherwise. To change the mouse
select mode use the Mode toolbar. The two modes are explained in more detail below.
5.4.1 Selecting Records (AE Hits)
(Mode Toolbar:
, default mode)
From any Scatter Plot, Cumulative (no bins) Plot, Data View table or Waveform View of the Main or
Usage Data Sets, records can be manually selected. This selection of records can then be used by
various AEwinPost operations. Records can be selected from either the Working Copy or the As
Loaded version of the above data sets. Any selection will be reflected to all other scatter views of the
set, automatically. For other selection methods all commands in EDIT Select can be used. These
are semi-automated means for selecting specific data (e.g. data shown in the current view). For details
on these commands please refer to the appropriate menu chapter.
Mouse selection of records can be performed as follows:
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Example of mouse data selection on a typical scatter plot. The mouse is dragged ov er the data to be selected
while holding down the left mouse button, forming a rectangle, which contains the data to be selected. Upon
releasing the mouse button, the data are selected (highlighted with a circle). Using the Ctrl and/or Shift buttons
the user can refine the mouse selection.
Example of mouse data selection on a data view table. The mouse is dragged ov er the data to be selected while
holding down the left mouse button. Upon releasing the mouse button the data selected will be highlighted with
a grey background.
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(Logical-AND Mode)*
Deselect :
(Logical-AND-NOT Mode)*
This mode is available only when location exists. The general mouse behavior is identical to the
selection of hits with OR, AND etc. operations available.
In this case though, when the user selects some hits from, say, a scatt er plot, ALL hits that belong to
the same event(s) as the originally selected data will also be included in the selection. This applies to
selections made in any AEwinPost view that supports a selection (scatter, cumulative no bins, data
table, waveform views).
5.5
Depending on where the user double clicks the mouse inside a plot several actions may occur:
Open Waveform Dialog showing the waveform of the corresponding hit selected.
Open Plot Properties dialog of the corresponding graph plot underneath mouse pointer.
Open Color Setup Dialog of the corresponding palette underneath mouse pointer.
Open Waveform Features dialog of the corresponding waveform underneath mouse pointer.
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The graphical capabilities of AEwinPost, which enable multiple Pages with several Views each, of
different display types, lead to a very versatile viewing and working environment. Furthermore,
correspondence on hit/record between any of the basic graphical displays will help the user to identify
waveforms and feature values of specific selected hits and vice versa.
The simplest case of such correspondence is the one presented in the figure below (Example of record
selection with logical OR operation. The result of the ab ove action will be for all ten hits (records) to be
selected.), where the Auto Select option in the waveform window is activated. This, results in
automatic selection of the corresponding hit in all scatter plots, indicated with a black circle, and the
highlighting of the corresponding row in the data values window. The Select Record function, in the
Edit menu, can be used in a similar manner whenever the user wishes to select a specific hit and view
its position on various scatter plots along with the waveform.
Correspondence between groups of hits is based on the selection of multiple points from a graph. The
user can select any points on any scatter plot, cumulative (no bins) plot, data view table, using the
mouse (left mouse button + drag), or any waveform view. In addition a number of semi-automated
selections exist to assist selection e.g. of whole clusters. Points can be selected from the Main Data
Set and any Usage Set loaded and the selection is reflected on all other windows showing that
set. Selected points remain enabled, while the user moves from one window or view to another ,
allowing a selection that is based on several criteria. In Main and Usage Set scatter plots and
cumulative (no bins) plots the following three advanced selection operations are supported:
Logical OR: Adds points to the pre-selected points (left mouse button + Ctrl + drag). The additional
points can be selected from another scatter plot. In the example in figure above (Example of mouse
data selection on a typical scatter plot.), the user initially selected the two extreme points from the
projection plot (marked with black circles). Then the amplitude-duration view was activated, and, by
holding the control and the left mouse button over the points that the user wished to add in the
selection, two additional points were included in the selection box shown.
Logical AND: Accepts previously selected points, only in the case of common hits in the existing
and the new selection, i.e. sub-select points (left mouse button + Shift + drag).
Logical AND NOT: Accepts previously selected hits, only if these are outside the new selection.
(left mouse button + Ctrl + Shift + drag).
Example of record selection with logical OR operation. The result of the above action will be for
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Mouse selection operations can be fine-tuned using the point and drag zoom function. To activate the
zoom function the user must select the plot to zoom and activate the Zoom button. By holding the left
mouse button and dragging, the desired area is zoomed.
Selection of records is possible through Waveform Views. The Auto Select First (automatically
selects the first waveform displayed and previous selection is cancelled) and the Mouse Select (select
waveforms by double click) are the two modes available. In the Mouse Select mode holding the CTRL
key will cause any new selections to be added the existing selection of records.
Another way to make complex selections is by using the Data Filter function. It offers the most flexible
and complete way to filter data in AEwinPost. Since data in AEwinPost do not have to be deleted
immediately the user can choose to select them first so as to review the filtering. The dialog offers 5
different filters with three fields each. Each field can be activated separately and contain any feature
available in the data set. The filters can also be activated separately and be either Reject or Accept
type filters. The output of the filter can be a selection or an immediate deletion of the data outside the
filter. Note that the output of the filter will show the data that did NOT pass the filter(s).
The zoom, select, data filters, delete, create cluster, merge clusters, graphical filters etc.
functions combine to offer powerful data manipulation actions and offer unparalleled flexibility to the
user in viewing/understanding the data. Using the selected hits, the user can apply the following
functions:
Advanced Filtering: Selected data can be deleted (Edit Delete or Del button on the keyboard),
resulting in advanced graphical filtering.
Waveforms Correspondence: Fast correspondence between the selected points/hits and the
respective waveforms from any Waveform View by activating the Show Selected option in the
Misc. Options tab of the Waveform Plot Properties dialog.
Record Data Correspondence: Correspondence of any selection is also made on the Data View
window showing all records and features, highlighting the selection.
Example of record selection and manual clustering using logical selection functions and box
zooming for filtering. Any selection is immediately shown in all plots.
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Context Menus
AEwinPost uses in great extend Context Menus. This improves usability without the need to memorize
where functions are. Simply right-click on items (page, graph etc) that you want to modify or do other
actions on and the Context Menu will provide all available functions for the item on which you clicked.
Details for all context menus are given below.
7.1
Page
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7.2
Graph View
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7.3
Waveform View
Go to: Use these functions to navigate through the wavefor ms in a dataset. The First, Last,
Previous, Next buttons can also be found in the Waveform Toolbar or by using the keyboard
arrow keys and Pg-UP, Pg-Down buttons.
Menu
Command
Waveform
Toolbar
Button
Keyboard
Shortcut
First
Page Up
Next
Down Arrow
Previous
Up Arrow
Last
Page Down
Undo: Removes the effect of the last graph formatting action in the current View.
Copy: Various Copy operations can be used in Wave Views. Selection: Copies the selected data in
the form of a table with all features available in the current dataset, version and projection.
Waveform: Copies the current waveform data (i.e. volt values) so that they can be inserted in any
other Windows application (e.g. MS Excel). The data copied are two columns: Time (sec),
Amplitude (Volts, value). Image: Copies the current Wave View as an image to the clipboard. It can
be inserted in any other Windows application with a Paste command. Plot Settings: Copies all Plot
settings which can then be applied to any other View of the same t ype.
Global Navigate: (Waveform Toolbar :
). This function allows the user to synchronize all
waveform views of a data set so that they display the same waveform number in the top (first
displayed) waveform. Using the navigate buttons (see above) all waveform plots will automatically
update to show the same first waveform. This can be used to view a waveform and its
corresponding FFT magnitude etc. without having to navigate through 2 or more windows.
mode of the first-displayed waveform in any waveform view. This can be activated by the Auto
Select Waveform Record button on the Waveform Toolbar as well. Once active, navigating
through the waveforms will cause the record of the first waveform to be selected. Note that this type
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of selection cancels any previous selection. The button must be pressed again to deactivate autoselection.
using this functions. Once activated the user can double click on any waveform. FFT etc. and the
corresponding record will be selected. Note that this selection will cancel any previous selection. To
add records to a selection via waveform views the user must hold the Ctrl key when selecting
(double-click) a waveform. This will add the corresponding record to any existing selection. The
Enable Selection button must be pressed again to deactivate selection mode.
First Displayed: This section contains commands that can be applied to the top (first d isplayed)
waveform of any multiple waveform view.
o Select Record: This function selects the waveform displayed in a single waveform
view. It applies to Time and Frequency domain plots. In a multiple waveform view this
function selects the top waveform (first displayed).
o Add to Record Selection: This function allows the user to add the displayed
waveform, in a single waveform view, or the top (first displayed) waveform in a multi waveform view, to an existing selection.
o Description (Double Click on any waveform or FFT view): As Feature Extraction
(FX) has been integrated into AEwinPost the user can experiment with individual
waveforms and observe how changes in the FX settings will affect the features of a
signal. The Description function provides the user with a dialog which displays basic
waveform information, including a small waveform plot, and allows for comparison
between original (data file) features and features extracted from the waveform using
the settings defined in the FX Setup. This function is also activated by double clicking
on any waveform or FFT view, provided that the zoom or selection functions are not
active. The column on the left displays the stored features for the corresponding
record. The user can directly set the feature extraction parameters via the FX Setup
button and observe the change in features on the right column (see in figure below:
Waveform Description dialog.). The Record (Hit) field displays the current record
number. The Waveform field displays the waveform number, as a one-to-one
correspondence between records and waveforms is not always available. The Time
fields display relevant time information. In addition the user can select the
corresponding record or add it to an existing selection via the Select Hit and Add to
Sel. buttons.
Redraw waveform: There are some situations where waveform redrawing is needed, e.g. when
user chooses to abort a lengthy waveform operation (in this situation the word Aborted is shown in
the center of the graph).
Properties: Display the wave plot properties dialog.
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7.4
Data Table
Right-Click on any Data Table View to get the Data Table Context Menu.
Copy: Selection: Copies the selected data in the form of a table with all features available in the
current dataset, version and projection.
Properties: Displays the Data Table Properties dialog.
7.5
Statistics View
Copy: Selection: Copies the selected data in the form of a table with all features available in the
current dataset, version and projection.
The rest of the functions in this menu are related to what type of statistics is shown in the current
view.
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FILE Menu
8.1
New Analysis
Before you start using AEwinPost, a new document must be created. To create more than one
document start a new AEwinPost session from the Start-Programs-Mistras Hellas-AEwinPost shortcut.
When pressing the New toolbar button or going to the File New Analysis command the user is
presented with a number of choices. These are related to the file type to use. These are there to make
it easier to load and work with a certain type of data.
AE Data (DTA): Opens a file dialog where the user can select the file or files to load. To select
more than one file use the standard Ctrl or Shift functions. All available information in these files
will be loaded (Hits, TDD, Waveforms, Time messages etc).
AE Wave Streaming Data (WFS): Opens a file selection dialog to load WFS files from PCI-2
systems. All waveforms will be loaded.
AE Wave Data (TDA): Opens a file selection dialog to load TDA files from TRA, MISTRAS and
DiSP systems.
The first step when creating a new AEwinPost document is to select the type of data files to be used.
All AEwinPost editions support PAC DTA, TDA and WFS files from SPARTAN, MISTRAS, DiSP, PCI-2
and Pocket AE systems (Select the DTA (PAC data files), the TDA (PAC wave files) or the WFS (PAC
wave streaming files) from the file type selection drop-down list).
Also, AEwinPost can load a waveform saved with Export As Text option from inside waveform context
menu (right click on a waveform to open context menu).
Once the file or files required have been selected, press OK to continue and you will be prompted to
select the AE features to be loaded from the file for the case of DTA files only.
For TDA, WFS and ASCII Waveform files no feature selection will appear, as these files do not contain
features (only waveforms). The initial data set will only contain Time, Channel information and the
waveforms.
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8.2
Export - Data
The pictures on the next page show the Save Data dialog. This is a Wizard that allows the user to save
data from the current file and data set to the desired format.
Note that the export to DTA file format can be used for exporting Extracted Features (FX)
including Time of WFS and TDA files. When saving wave files into this file format some waves
may be truncated to keep compatibility.
8.2.1 Export Data STEP 1
How to save data
The user can select to save the data contained in the current data set as one data file ( Entire Dataset)
or split them to classes (one data file will be saved for each class in the dataset) (see next page
pictures). If the user selects Split to Classes then the names of each class data file will be in the form
[name].XXXX.[ext] where [name] is the file name defined by the user, XXXX is the class number and
[ext] is the appropriate file extension (e.g. DTA, TXT etc).
Data Format
The data can be saved in any desirable format. These are explained below:
PAC Data File (DTA): The data will be saved to PAC DTA files using the data in memory.
Original data files are not required. If the original data file(s) were DTA and the user has
extracted features (FX) then these features can be saved. Filtered Waveforms can also be
saved. DTA files can be exported from any data file type.
PAC Data File (DTA or TDA or WFS): The data will be saved to PAC DTA, TDA or WFS file(s)
depending on the original file format using data from the original files.
Text (TXT) File: Data are saved in ASCII format.
Text (DAT) File: Data are saved in a columnar ASCII file.
8.2.2 Export Data STEP 2
Once the user makes the appropriate choices in the first step of the Save wizard press Next to go to
the next step. In Step 2 of the Save wizard the available choices depend largely on the choices made
in Step 1. As the wizard is self-explanatory only two examples will be given for Step 2.
When the user has chosen to save the file as PAC DTA then the save options are shown in the
pictures below (c).
When the user has chosen to save the data in ASCII (TXT) file format the save options are shown in
the pictures below (d).
Similar options will appear for other choices made in Step 1. The user has full control of how and what
to save.
(a)
(b)
Data format.
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(c)
(d)
Save as TXT.
8.3
Exports the first displayed waveform, FFT etc of the active wave view as text. The user must choose a
folder and file name, and if sample values are saved as volts. Also, user can choose which columns to
export, and number precision from Waveform Export Options dialog. Finally the user can choose time
segment to export either in time or in number of samples.
8.4
Exports one text file per channel of all waveforms contained in a WFS format file. The us er must
choose a folder and file name, and if sample values are saved as volts. Also, user can choose which
columns to export, and number precision from Waveform Export Options dialog:
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8.5
This command lets the user review the information contained in a data file without having to open it.
Simply select the file to review and AEwinPost will display information such as number of hits, title,
number of waveforms, number of time driven data etc.
8.6
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8.7
Print Preview
8.8
Print Setup
8.9
Preferences
This is where the user can make general preference settings for AEwinPost. All main AEwinPost
preferences are accessible through the Preference dialog.
The Edit DTA Settings button allows the user to choose how to load information from DTA files (see
picture below). As systems become faster users tend to store and want to work with large data files
containing Hit, Time and Waveform information. Depending on the size of the file, the type of
information contained and the computer capabilities the user can alter these settings to best fit the
situation.
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The Import File Method is how AEwinPost is going to read the data. The Standard AEwinPost
Method is generally adequate for most cases and is the default value. The Small Buffer Method
performs better for files that contain large number of waveforms exceeding the system memory and
the Large Buffer Method performs better for large files that contain only hits (no waveforms).
The waveform storage is important when working with large files with lots of waveforms. In this case it
is better to un-check the Load Waveforms to RAM option so that memory usage is restricted (it is easy
to exceed 1GB of RAM usage when working with large waveform files). For smaller waveform files
(about up to half the memory size) this will have only a small effect.
The Edit WFS Settings button allows the user to choose how to load information from DTA files ( see
picture c above). The settings are quite similar to the ones for DTA waveform management. WFS files,
since they do not contain any features will require Feature Extraction so some users may choose to
load them directly into RAM to speed FX. For small and medium size WFS files (up to 300-400MB) in
modern computers it is recommended to select to load the Waveforms in memor y for faster operations.
For larger WFS files (500Mb 2GB) it is recommended to leave the waveforms in disk.
The Drawing Mode section allows the user to select the type of redraw performed to speed -up screen
drawing or to get more detailed views. The two options, Faster Updates and Detailed Redraws do
precisely that. Select Faster Updates if a large data set is used or a slow computer is used to speed up screen drawing. If a fast computer is used or a normal size data set is loaded, which is usually the
case, select the Detailed Redraws option.
The Define Colors displays a dialog where the user can setup the default colors used by AEwinPost
for clusters. Unlike the Colors and Labels dialog (see View menu), changes made through the Define
Colors dialog window remain for any future AEwinPost Document created.
The class is selected by using the arrows. The Define Color button allows the user to select the
desired color for each class. Upon completion of any changes press OK (see picture d above). All
changes made will appear in subsequent work.
Finally, the user could define the maximum number of processors or cores that will be used during
the analysis.
The Clear Do not ask again flag for memory consuming operations option allows to show a
warning for lengthy and memory consuming waveform operations.
8.10 Exit
Closes AEwinPost. If any documents are open and not saved the user will be prompted accordingly.
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EDIT Menu
The functions under the EDIT menu concern clipboard, selection and deletion operations. Resul ts of
these operations, when applied, differ depending on the type of Active View on which they are applied.
9.1
Undo
(Shortcut: Ctrl+Z)
When applicable, undoes the results of the last operation. This function may not always be applicable.
If the user is about to perform an action that cannot be undone AEwinPost will prompt the user
accordingly.
9.2
Cut (Selection)
Cuts the current selection of records (hits), if any, to the clipboard. Note that this operation will remove
any selected records from the data set and will place them on the clipboard. The user is prompted to
verify the action so as to avoid mistakes. The data can only be imported to other Windows
applications from the clipboard and NOT back to the AEwinPost document.
9.3
AEwinPost Statistics View: Copies a selected text section of the view to the Windows Clipboard so that
it can be pasted to other programs.
AEwinPost Scatter Plot views: Copies the selected records (hits) of the Active Data Set to the
Windows Clipboard so that they can be imported to other software programs using the Paste
command.
International note: AEwinPost uses the period (.) as a decimal separator when storing floating-point
data to Clipboard text. This may cause incompatibility problems (distorted values) when pasting to
other software, in countries where a different default decimal point separator is used, (such as comma
(,) ). You can select the decimal symbol used in your system using the Control Panel/Regional
Settings/Number tab.
9.4
Available only if the active view is a wave view. Copies the first waveform in the active view as voltage
values to the clipboard, for pasting in other applications (e.g. MS Excel).
9.5
(Shortcut: Ctrl+I)
Available in AEwinPost plot-based views: Copies the graphics area covered by the Active View to the
Windows Clipboard, in bitmap format, so that the image can be imported to other software using the
Paste command. It does not matter if other windows obscure the view while copying image to
clipboard.
9.6
Copies the entire visible Page to the clipboard. This includes the Header (if shown) all views with
graphs, statistics etc and the tab strip with the page name. Please, make sure that no other window
overlaps the page before copying it to clipboard (e.g. Windows notification messages, ot her top level
windows, etc.).
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9.7
(Shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+C)
This command copies all plot parameters (e.g. plot type, axes features, log scale etc.). These settings
can then be applied to any other graph view using the EDIT - Paste - Plot Settings command (see
below).
9.8
(Shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+V)
This command is used to apply plot properties copied using the EDIT - Copy - Plot Settings. Upon
application to a graph view this View will become identical to the original. This command pastes only
plot related settings and does not affect the Data Set or Version active in that View. Pasting plot
settings to other kind of views (like Data Table and Waveform views) is not currently supported.
9.9
(Shortcut: Del)
This operation deletes any selected records. This is a filtering operation allowing removal of data
records. Note: Records are deleted from all versions of the data set. The only way to undo the effect of
this operation is by reloading the data file.
Note that this operation will cause AEwinPost to add a relevant comment (AEwinPost: data was
filtered) if the user exports a DTA files after deleting some hits for traceability.
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9.13 Find
(Shortcut: Ctrl+F)
This function is available only in a AEwinPost Statistics Views to find user-defined text. Its common
use is to quickly locate specific statistics information in a large statistics View.
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9.19 None
(Shortcut: Alt+Num Del)
Delete any present selection. Before applying the command AEwinPost warns the user of the coming
action.
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10 VIEW
Menu
This menu contains all functions related to viewing the data and making adjustments to the various
views. Several View related operations and functions are in the Context Menus of each View and
Page. The View Menu contains more of the general functions.
10.2 Page
These functions allow the user to adjust the basic type of view in the active view.
Add: Displays the Page creation dialog. The user can choose the page layout and this Page will be
added after the last page. The view(s) shown in this page depends on the last view created. Any
modification to the page layout and the view(s) properties can be made later.
Insert: Displays the Page creation dialog. The user can choose the page layout and this Page will
be inserted before the currently active page. The view(s) shown in this page depends on the last
view created. Any modification to the page layout and the view(s) properties can be made later.
Create a Copy: Generates an exact copy of the active page and adds it after the last page.
Delete: Deletes the active page.
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Displays the currently Active Data Set on a Data View Window. The Data View Window lists the actual
record values (along with Time-of-Hit and classification information) in a table.
When a selection of some records has been made in any plot, the corresponding records are listed in
a gray background. The user can select records (hits) from the Data View by clicking and dragging the
mouse over the desired records. The Data View currently supports logical OR function by holding the
Crtl while selecting with the mouse.
The user has the option to select what will be displayed in the Data View Window using the Data View
Properties dialog. This is activated by right-clicking on the table. The Data View Properties dialog is
similar to all other display dialogs in AEwinPost. The main options are always available in the lower
section of the dialog. The upper section of the dialog is separated in tabs for extra options.
General Options
Position (slider)
No Filters (checkbox)
When checked all filters specified in the filtering tabs are deactivated.
Features (checklist)
From this list the user can select which features to view in the
table.
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Display Tab
Number (check box):
Location Data
The rest of the tabs (Graphical Filter, Class/Channel Filter, Events) are identical to their equivalent
tabs in the Plot Properties dialog. Through these the user can apply filtering to the data shown in the
current Data View table. Please refer to section 10.16 for a description of these tabs and their fun ction.
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10.7 Legend
This function allows the user to display or hide the legend. The legend window is always visible.
10.11 Export
The formats used to export images from this menu is Bitmap (BMP), JPEG (JPG), Tiff (TIFF),
Encapsulated PS (EPS).
Active View: Saves to disk the active view (shown with red border) with the name and folder
chosen by the user.
Active Page: Saves the active page to disk as an image.
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All Pages: Saves all pages to disk in a single or in multiple image files. Available file formats that
support storing of multiple images in a single physical file are: Tiff and EPS. In all other formats, all
pages are exported by appending to output file name a dash (-) and the literal Page followed by
the page number.
Advanced: By pressing the Advanced button more options get available to the user depending of
the file format chosen above. Please, note that not all compression algorithms are supported in the
standard Windows Photo Viewer for Tiff file formats. Also, note that you may need a third party
viewer to open EPS files.
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10.13 Zoom In
See Zoom and Panning section.
10.15 Toolbars
The commands in this menu allow the user to choose which toolbars will be visible at any time. Screen
resolution and viewing requirements may be factors for hiding some toolbars.
NOTE: Inactive buttons on toolbars mean that the operation is not available or that the operation is
already active. For example when on a scatter plot the Scatter Plot button is inactive.
For more information and a toolbar button quick reference guide refer to Appendix I.
10.15.1
Standard Toolbar
Enables or disables the standard toolbar allowing the user to perform various standard operations:
Note the New Analysis button has a drop-down list with all file-type loading options:
10.15.2
Views Toolbar
10.15.3
Mode Toolbar
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10.15.4
Waveforms Toolbar
This toolbar allows you to view, navigate, select etc. in waveform views. Some of the toolbar buttons
are active only when the option to view the specific type of action is available (e.g. go to first waveform
button is de-activated when viewing the first waveform).
10.15.5
Status Bar
The lower part of the AEwinPost environment is the status bar. In this bar information regarding the
data file loaded, the number of records, the cursor coordinates etc. In addition when the software is
performing a task the status bar shows the task being carried out.
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11 FUNCTIONS
Menu
11.2 Parametrics
11.2.1 Scale
The Parametrics dialog allows the user to set separate scale and offset values for each available
parametric.
Note: you can always discard all data preprocessing by selecting PREPROCESS - Restore Loaded.
Press the Default Current button to reset the current parametric multiplier to 1.0 and offset to 0.0.
Press the Default All button to reset all parametric multipliers to 1.0 and offsets to 0.0.
Press Apply to apply the selected multiplier and offset values to the corresponding parametrics.
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Time Marks are the only time messages that can be edited. To edit a particular time mark simply select
it from the list and edit the time at which it appears in the text box. To effect the change pre ss the
Change button. To add a new time mark simply enter the time and press the Insert button. To remove
a time mark simply select it from the list and press the Delete button.
Time messages review dialog. Time marks can be added, edited or deleted.
Note that each type of time message is shown with a different color in AEwinPost scatter plots.
Time Marks: Grey
Test Run: Green
Test Pause: Purple
Test Stop: Black
Threshold Change: Magenta
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12 TOOLS
Menu
This menu contains AEwinPost functions that require more user feedback and choices. Some
advanced tools are available in this menu such as Feature Extraction and Location.
The Data Filter dialog. Three filters are active using various combinations of Feature Fields and limits. The filter
is applied to the data and the results are shown as an example on the right.
When having set the appropriate range for the desired filters they can be applied to all data (All
Classes checkbox checked) or to data belonging to specific classes (using Apply filters to the
following classes list) by pressing the Select or Delete buttons. The Select button will cause all hits
(records), which did not pass the filter(s), to be selected, so that the user can review the results, create
a new class etc. In the case that the user knows that this data is to be removed the Delete button can
be pressed and the data will automatically be removed from the data set.
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Because filters can be quite complex in setting-up the dialog allows the user to save the current filter
set-up. The file extension for AEwinPost Filter files is NFL. Such a file can be loaded from the dialog
and applied to a different set of data.
12.2 Location
This section of the TOOLS menu lets the user set and manage information and parameters regarding
source location. For the options to be available the LOC module is required and the data in the current
AEwinPost document must be from a PAC (DTA, TDA and WFS) AE data file.
Zonal Location: This type of source location assigns an event to the channel that first received an AE
hit (First Hit), according to the parameters set by the user, so that the user knows that, in general, the
physical event producing the AE hit is in the area of the channel that first received it. The
implementation of Zonal location in AEwinPost goes a step further and produces a list of Event
Sequence which apart from finding the First Hit also creates a list of subsequent hits in each event,
according to the parameters set by the user. This is the Event Sequence feature, which is added to
each record/hit in the data. First hits will have a value of 1 in Event Sequence. A second feature is
added to each record/hit in the data, which contains the event to which each hit is assigned to. This is
the Event Correspondence.
Note that hits not assigned to events have a value of 1 in Event Sequence.
12.2.1 Configure
This command displays the Source Location configuration dialog. In this dialog all information and
parameters regarding the location method can be supplied.
When the location configuration dialog is opened in a new document the information table is blank. To
add a location group, press the Add Group button. To select an existing group for editing, double
click on the group number in the Group column. Up-to 32 location groups can be used in each
AEwinPost document.
Currently the location module supports an implementation of Zonal location and a 3D Linear location.
Zonal groups cannot have common sensors (channels) and a warning providing relevant information
(common channel and groups) will be displayed.
Local: This location mode refers to the actual setup. If the setup involves many sensors but only part
of them will be used for location the user can choose Local to define multiple groups with no sensor
overlapping. Each group behaves as if it were on its own, disregarding information from other location
groups.
Global: This location mode assumes that all sensors will be used. When selected , AEwinPost predefines a Zonal group that governs the entire location and adds all available channels. Other groups
can be added but only if they are not zonal (i.e. Linear location groups can be added).
When a group has been added some default values are added. For the selected group the user can
adjust the following:
Channels: Pressing the Select button the Select Channels dialog appears. By default all channels
active in the data file(s) loaded will be selected and the All Channels option will be checked. To
change the channel selection the All Channels options must be de-activated. Then the user can scroll
the channels and check / uncheck channels as required.
Wave Velocity: The user can specify a wave velocity for the current location group. The wave velocity
can be in several different units (m/s, cm/s, ft/s, in/s), which can be selected from the drop -down list.
NOTE: The velocity has no effect on a Zonal location group if the Lockout is given in sec.
Lockout: This value defines the time after an event the software will look for subsequent hits relating
to the current event. During the lockout a new event from the sam e sensor group cannot be defined.
Its value can be given in several different units (sec, m, cm, ft, in) which can be selected from the
drop down list.
NOTE: If the unit is other than sec then an appropriate wave velocity must be supplied.
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NOTE: the unit of the Wave Velocity and the Lockout can be different (see in figure below:The
Location Configuration dialog ). AEwinPost will automatically compute the appropriate units to be used.
NOTE: You may apply location information to all data (All Classes c heckbox is checked) or to specific
classes (from inside Apply location to the following classes list).
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Event Completion: Set the manner in which AEwinPost will define subsequent hits to an event. The
All option allows AEwinPost to use all subsequent hits to the current event. The Echo option allows
AEwinPost to use all subsequent hits unless a channel records more than one hit in a specific period.
NOTE: The Type and Method columns along with the Over(%) and Neighbor Distance fields are
reserved for further development in advanced Zonal, Linear and Planar location algorithms.
To delete a location group the user must select the group (by double clicking on the appropriate group
number in the Group column) and press the Remove Group button.
The Undo Last button removes the effects of the last user operation.
Up-on having set all the appropriate parameters in the location group(s) the user can press OK and
the location setup will be applied to the data in the current AEwinPost document. Note that the location
will be applied to ALL data files in the current AEwinPost Document. The results will be presented in
the Event Sequence and Event Correspondence columns as mentioned earlier. These will be available
for viewing in any plot and the data view. For easier access to location data use the Events tab in the
Plot Properties dialog.
To perform Linear location AEwinPost requires that the position of each sensor is defined. This is
achieved at the Sensor Position tab of the location dialog. The user can select the geometry (Linear,
Planar, and Spatial) and define each sensors coordinates. The geometry setup can be saved to file to
be loaded with different data.
Location parameters (groups, channels, velocity etc.) will be saved in the AEwinPost Document along
with any location results. Also, these parameters along with all specified sensor positions may be
exported to a dedicated file format known as Location Setup File (extension .lsf) by pressing the
Export button. Location setup files may be imported by pressing the Import button.
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12.2.2 Remove
This command removes all information related to location from the data set and any location settings
from the Location dialog.
12.2.3 Report
Displays a dialog with the summary of the last location run for the current dataset.
Feature Name
Description
Amplitude (dBae)
Amplitude (mV)
Duration (sec)
Signal Duration
Counts (#)
Energy (EC#)
Energy Counts
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Signal Energy
Average Frequency
Frequency Centroid
Partial Powers
Peak Frequency
Peak Power
Threshold
RA Value
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Feature Extraction selection dialog. All possible features are shown selected ). In this dialog the user
can select the features for extraction.
Pressing OK will start the feature extraction. All selected features will be added to the As Loaded and
Working Copy of the Main Data Set with the appropriate name and the suffix (FX) for Feature
Extraction.
To remove the extracted features from the data set see paragraphs below. To completely undo the
operation (e.g. recover deleted records without waveforms) the user must reload the data file(s).
Note: Performing Feature Extraction will remove any preprocessing from the Working Copy of the Main
Data Set.
12.3.3 Remove
This will remove the features created during feature extraction. All FX features will be removed from
the As Loaded and Working Copy of the Main Data Set restoring it to its previous status.
Note : Removing Feature Extraction will remove any preprocessing from the Working Copy of the Main
Data Set.
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13 HELP
Menu
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14 APPENDIX
Key(s)
Action Description
F1
Help
Alt + F4
Ctrl + F6
Next view
Ctrl + Shift + F6
Previous view
Tab
Ctrl + P
Ctrl + Z
Ctrl + X
Del
Ctrl + C
Ctrl + I
Ctrl + Shift + C
Ctrl + Shift + V
Ctrl + F
Ctrl + H
Ctrl + A
Ctrl + Shift + A
Ctrl + W
Ctrl + R
Ctrl + Shift + B
Ctrl + Shift + G
Ctrl + Shift + H
Show/Hide Header.
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