The figure shows typical device window components for a charging device with device area (1), figure (2), live data (3), and status bar (4). For each connected device a separate window is generated by the application which is displayed as separate window next to the main window by default. The window may be displayed by the dock as well.
The device window components vary depending on the supported device:
The device window shows 4 areas for charging devices (here: Charge Manager 2010):
After connecting a new device it is recommended to apply the basic settings first. If the device window has been created by the device wizard or manually some settings can be made from within the device area. Please click on the title or the plus symbol in order to expand the area. After you have completed the setup this area should be collapsed again since it not required for the operation and since the other components figure and live data require the availabe space on the monitor.
First of all please choose the connected device. Since devices are stored in the database a connection must have been established in the session window. The device list may be refreshed using the button right to the chooser. If you like to change the configuration of the selected device please click the blue Edit link. The appropriate type is automatically selected if a device has been selected. If you have not already deposited a device in the database you can set a type for your charging device here. Logging of measurements is not possible then. It is recommended to configure a device in the database and to select it in the device window.
Below this the serial settings are listed (like Baud Rate). The area with charging options contains the following options:
These settings let's you control the interaction with barcode scanners which can be used for a quick battery identification. If a barcode has been recognized and a battery is deposited then the barcode scanner device window shows this battery. With the Use latest recognized battery automatically option this battery is used automatically once it is inserted into a charging slot so that manual setting is not necessary and logging may start immediately. The option Reset barcode afterward may be set in order to reset the barcode after it has been transferred from the barcode device window into the charging device window (default).
The logging options currently consist of the following options:
Once a battery has been inserted into the charging device and has been identified by a barcode the logging of measurement data may be started. In order to do this automatically please enable the Start logging automatically option. Enable Stop logging automatically to get this done automatically if a battery is removed from a charging slot. The Log raw data from device option can be selected if you like the raw data from the device be logged in addition to the standard values for voltage, current etc. (default: off). The interval for the loggin is controlled using the Log datasets every n seconds option where a value in seconds is specified.
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Since device data logging may produce many, many datasets to be stored the interval should not be set too small. A reasonable value for logging is 60 seconds. |
The figure (2) shows a schematic representation of the connected device. The charging slots may be clicked in order to select a battery from the database. Measurement data may only be logged if a battery has been identified from the database.
The live data (3) area is devied into sections for each charging slot. For each slot the sections display the measurement data from the device. The currently executed charging program of the device is printed on the right side (e.g. CHA=Charge). Like the slot buttons of the figure also the live data section contain buttons to select a battery from the database. If logging is not started/stopped automatically then this can be done separately for each slot using the ball buttons. The header of each slot section displays the duration, the battery name, as well as the executed charging program and the number of log datasets.
On the status bar (4) of the device window prints notices, warnings, or error messages from time to time. The symbol on the right side shows the current status (i.e. connected or not connected).
The device window shows 3 areas for barcode scanners (here: Honeywell Voyager 9520):
After connecting a new device it is recommended to apply the basic settings first. If the device window has been created by the device wizard or manually some settings can be made from within the device area. Please click on the title or the plus symbol in order to expand the area. After you have completed the setup this area should be collapsed again since it not required for the operation.
First of all please choose the connected device. Since devices are stored in the database a connection must have been established in the session window. The device list may be refreshed using the button right to the chooser. If you like to change the configuration of the selected device please click the blue Edit link. The appropriate type is automatically selected if a device has been selected. If you have not already deposited a device in the database you can set a type for your barcode device here. In the case of barcode scanners a device in the database is required since the settings like tag format are stored in the database. Choosing a type only is not possible here.
Below this the Serial Settings are listed (like Baud Rate). The area with barcode device settings contains the following options:
The Barcode Format specifies the data format used for barcodes recognized by the device. Common value is the format Default (TEXT/CRLF). Please consult the documenation of your barcode scanner to determine the supported format. For each barcode format an appropriate regular expression must be deposited which in combination with the group serves to recognize barcodes. It is recommened to use the available barcode formats since expressions and groups are already deposited here. Both values may also be specified manually using the device management in order to support rarely used barcode formats.
The Barcode Settings include the following options:
Since not all barcode scanners may produce sounds you can let your PC create a beep with the Beep when new barcode is recognized option once a new barcode has been recognized. In order to share barcodes with other programs please enable the Copy barcode to clipboard option, the barcodes are then copied to clipboard after recognition. A recognized barcode may be reset after a certain time period by setting a value in seconds for the Reset barcode after n seconds option.
The Live Data (3) area shows the recognized barcode, the button to the right may be clicked to reset the value. If a database connection exists and a battery has been deposited for the recognized barcode then this battery is displayed by the Battery chooser. Simultaneously the battery photo is displayed if configured.
On the status bar (4) of the device window prints notices, warnings, or error messages from time to time. The symbol on the right side shows the current status (i.e. connected or not connected).
It is recommended to use barcode scanners with integrated laser instead of other technologies like CCD in order to achieve better recognition results even for printed barcodes. The barcodes for the rechargeables managed with Battery Manager may be directly printed from the My Batteries tab found on the session window. Please select the desired batteries here and call the Print Barcodes... context menu with the right mouse button. A print preview is displayed to be printed with a connected printer. The resolution of the printer used should be at least 300 dpi for a proper recognition. The common printing options of the program are also applied when printing barcodes, e.g. you can specify a default printer or turn off the preview here.
The printed barcodes (Code 128) will have a suitable size so that they can be attached without problems to even the smaller AAA/micro batteries. You could use self-adhesive paper or regular printer paper and attach the strips with Tesa band for example. Please keep some white space to the left and right sides of the barcodes for proper recognition. The battery names are used as barcode data by default. If the names consist of more than 16 characters or contain non-ASCII characters (0-127) like German Umlauts then the unique database ID like MYID=123 is used instead. Both data structures name and ID are detected automatically by the software which finds the associated batteries in the database.
The device window shows 4 areas for programmable plug devices EnerGenie (currently EG-PM2-LAN, EG-PMS2-LAN und EG-PMS2-WLAN) :
After connecting a new device it is recommended to apply the basic settings first. If the device window has been created by the device wizard or manually some settings can be made from within the device area. Please click on the title or the plus symbol in order to expand the area. After you have completed the setup this area should be collapsed again since it not required for the operation and since the other components figure and Live Data require the availabe space on the monitor. With the red X in the right top corner of the device area the device window may be exited (commit required). The settings of the exited device will be lost here.
First of all please choose the connected device. Since devices are stored in the database a connection must have been established in the session window. The device list may be refreshed using the button right to the chooser. If you like to change the configuration of the selected device please click the blue Edit link. The appropriate type is automatically selected if a device has been selected. If you have not already deposited a device in the database you can set a type for your EnerGenie device here.
The area with EG-PM2-LAN Settings contains the following options:
In the first input field Host name/IP you can deposit the server name or ip address used by the EnerGenie device. The device password consists of multiple ASCII characters, the EnerGenie device uses 1 as default password. To display the password as cleartext (not masked) please click on the button right next to the input field.
The option Refresh states every n seconds causes the window to read the states of the plugs from time to time. If you like to do this manually then please leave this input field empty. By default, an interval of 60 seconds is deposited here.
In addition to the initial device states you can configure certain state configurations here to be automatically activated if the Battery Manager gets started or exited. With States on start you can configure which of the 4 plugs shall be turned on or off, with States on exit you can configure which of the 4 plugs shall be turned on or off if the Battery Manager is terminated. With these functions you can turn the other devices controlled by Battery Manager like chargers or barcode scanners on or off if the software gets started and exited (energy saving). If you do not like to use these functions please deselect the States on start and/or States on exit check boxes.
The figure (2) shows a schematic representation of the connected device. The plugs may be clicked in order to toggle the current states (ON/OFF). If the device is not connected or a wrong password is used then the buttons are not visible.
The live data (3) area is devied into sections for each plug. For each plug the sections display the state data from the device where each plug can be given a name to reflect the connected devices. Like the plug buttons of the figure also the live data section contain buttons to turn the plugs on/off. In cases of emergency the four plugs can be turned off at once with the ALL OFF button.
On the status bar (4) of the device window prints notices, warnings, or error messages from time to time. The symbol on the right side shows the current status (i.e. connected or not connected).