Customizing Standard Characteristics

Customizing Standard
Characteristics of OMICRON Test
Universe
Some of the OMICRON Test Universe standard characteristics can be
customized according to the user’s requirements. To change a characteristic,
certain settings in the Windows Registry need to be modified.
The following sections describe what characteristics can be changed and how.
Section 1 ”What characteristics can be modified?” describes the feature, the
keys and values to be set and/or created in the registry are described:
1.1 ”Default CMC Device Type for Offline Mode” on page........................... 4
1.2 ”Ground Wire Break Warning” on page.................................................. 4
1.3 ”Scanning of Parallel Ports” on page ..................................................... 5
1.4 ”Automatic Registration of the Kernel Mode Drivers” on page............... 6
1.5 ”Height of Analog Diagrams in Reports” on page .................................. 6
Section 2 ”How to Edit the Windows Registry” provides information how these
modifications have to be performed.
2.1 ”Editing an entry” on page...................................................................... 9
2.2 ”Adding a New Entry” on page ............................................................. 10

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1 What characteristics can be

modified?
1.1 Default CMC Device Type for Offline Mode
Determines the default device type for offline operation. When the Hardware
Configuration dialog is opened in offline mode, Test Universe provides
simulation of all device types listed below. By setting this registry entry, the
default device type can be specified, i.e., the device type set here will be
selected by default.

Registry Settings

Key name: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\OMICRON\Hardware

Configuration
Value name: DefaultDeviceType
Value data: CMC56, CMC156-EP, CMC256-3, CMC256-6, CMC151

1.2 Ground Wire Break Warning

Specifies whether or not the ground wire break warning is displayed.
Note: The ground wire break warning is a crucial message! Disabling it will
suppress an important message that indicates a potential safety risk.
Therefore we suggest to disable this warning only if the ground wire
break warning occurs constantly due to your network topology, and all
CMC users are fully aware that this is the case!

Registry Settings

Key name: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\OMICRON\Hardware

Configuration
Value name: GroundWireBreakWarning
Value data: 0 or 1
(0 = warning disabled, 1 = warning enabled. Default = 1)
Note: When "Value name" does not exist, the warning is
enabled.

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1.3 Scanning of Parallel Ports

Determines whether or not CM Engine scans the corresponding parallel port for
connected CMCs. The default setting is "scan port".
Disabling a particular port from being scanned can be advantageous if a
hardware device is connected to it that may conflict with the way the OMICRON
kernel mode driver operates. Such a device can be a printer that, for example,
every time the kernel mode driver switches, initiates an internal reset and ejects
a sheet of paper.

Registry Settings

Key name: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\OMICRON\CM Engine

Value name: ScanLPTx
(where "x" is to be replaced with the actual port number)
Value data: 0 or 1 (default = 1)
0 = port is not checked for connected CMCs
1 = the port is included when scanning for devices
Note: When "Value name" does not exist, the port is
included when scanning for devices.

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1.4 Automatic Registration of the Kernel Mode

Drivers
Determines whether or not CM Engine automatically tries to register the kernel
mode drivers for parallel port communication on each start-up.
The default setting is "register kernel mode drivers".
Note: This setting should only be used by very advanced users that
understand the impact of disabling kernel mode drivers.

Registry Settings

Key name: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\OMICRON\CM Engine

Value name: RegisterAndStartKernelDrivers
Value data: 0 or 1 (default = 1)
0 = kernel mode drivers not automatically registered
1 = kernel mode drivers registration attempted automatically
Note: when "Value name" does not exist, registration is
attempted automatically.

It may be advantageous to select not to automatically register the the kernel

mode drivers if you experience a conflict with another driver. However, up to
date, the only definitely known case is an incompatibility with the PPShell driver
of the Windows CE development environment.
Setting the value data to 1 prevents CM Engine from automatically registering
the kernel mode drivers, however, results in the fact that OMICRON Test
Universe can be operated in offline mode only.

1.5 Height of Analog Diagrams in Reports

Specifies the height in millimeters of analog diagrams in the report of a test
module.
Registry Settings

Key name: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\OMICRON\<module

name>\Options
Value name: DiagramHeight
Value data: height in millimeters, value must be between 1 and 200

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1.6 Software Watchdog Timeout

Specifies the time-out for the software watchdog in the device.
Note: This setting should only be changed when advised by the OMICRON
hotline.

Registry Settings

Key name: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\OMICRON\CM Engine

Value name: WatchdogTimeout
Value data: Watchdog timeout in milliseconds, value must be between 2000
and 30000
Note: When "Value name" does not exist, the watchdog timeout
will be set to an internal default (currently about 2000 ms).

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2 How to Edit the Windows Registry

Note: The settings in the Windows Registry are crucial for your system’s
operating stability and integrity. Proceed with caution when editing the
Windows Registry.
If you do not feel confident editing the Registry, ask your system
administrator or a likewise qualified expert.
To create or modify an entry, you need to start the Windows Registry Editor:
1. Open the Windows S T A R T menu
2. Select R U N …
3. Type in "regedit"
Figure 2-1:
Starting the Windows
Registry Editor

4. Left-click on O K or hit the <Enter> key. This will start the Windows
Registry Editor.
Figure 2-2:
The Windows Registry
Editor

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 Customizing Standard Characteristics

In the Windows Registry Editor:

1. Left-click on the + sign of HKEY_CURRENT_USER to expand the
Explorer-like registry tree.
2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\OMICRON.
The settings mentioned in section ”Customizing Standard Characteristics of
OMICRON Test Universe” are located in subkeys (or subfolders, in terms of the
Explorer-like tree) of the key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\OMICRON.
Clicking on such a subkey will display one or more entries at the right side of the
Registry Editor window.
Figure 2-3:
The OMICRON-specific
settings in the Windows
Registry Editor

2.1 Editing an entry

To edit an existing entry
1. Double-click the on the name of the entry (e.g. ScanLPT1).
This will open the dialog box Edit String. Here the value of the entry can
be changed.
Figure 2-4:
The Edit String dialog
box

2. Enter the desired value into the "Value data:" entry field, and click on O K
to close the Edit String dialog box.

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2.2 Adding a New Entry

To add a new entry:
1. Select the Windows Registry Editor’s menu item
EDIT | NEW | STRING VALUE.
2. Enter the value name of your choice, and press the <Enter> key.
You will then get an empty entry that can be modified in the same way as
described for already existing entries in section 2.1 ”Editing an entry”.
Note: Changes in the Windows registry don’t affect applications that are
currently running.

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