User's Guide DISTO online Leica Geosystems
Copyright 2001 by PMS Photo Mess Systeme AG. All rights reserved. This manual describes the versions 2.x of the program DISTO online. PMS PHOTO-MESS-SYSTEME AG Bahnhofstraße 8 CH - 9430 St. Margrethen Phone +41 (71) 744 70 91 Fax +41 (71) 744 68 29 Internet http://www.pms.co.at http://www.elcovision.com Email: support@pms.co.at 1.
Contents Introduction 1 DISTO online...................................................................................................................... 1 Installation of the Program.................................................................................................. 1 Uninstall of the Program ..................................................................................................... 2 Installation of a Leica DISTO ..................................................................
Index ii • Contents 33 User's Guide to DISTO Online
Introduction DISTO online DISTO online is a program, which enables you to operate any Leica DISTO at any serial interface on your computer running under Microsoft Windows 95/98/ME or Windows NT/2000. DISTO online supports all Leica DISTO laser range finder with a serial interface and detects these automatically. With DISTO online all windows programs and even DOS programs running in the DOS box of windows can be supplied the measured values of the DISTO.
Uninstall of the Program To uninstall DISTO online follow these steps: Click on "Start" -> DISTO online -> uninstall DISTO online A dialog appears, in which you are asked whether they would really like to uninstall DISTO online. The uninstall program removes all files, which the installation program put on your system, measurement records are however preserved. Installation of a Leica DISTO Attach your Leica DISTO with a suitable data cable to any serial interface of your computer.
The Operation of DISTO online Operation and Possibilities in the Simple Mode The Page "Send" The window is divided into two areas. In the upper subrange is defined, what should be done with the data. Within the lower area of the page the data format is defined. Four pre-defined formats are possible: User's Guide to DISTO Online 1. Only the measured value will be transferred 2. Only the measured value will be transferred and a press of the "return" key will be simulated. 3.
The Page "Measurement Record" Additionally to the transfer to the individual Windows programs DISTO online writes a measurement record. The format of the log can be arranged independently of the output: The log is independently carried by DISTO online and is stored automatically into a file "DISTO online YYYY-MM_DD.log", whereby YYYY is for the year, MM for the month and DD is for the day.
The column "column" defines the internal control instruction and in the column "legend" you can modify the inscription of the corresponding column in the measurement record. Using the checkboxes in the column "Active" you can switch on and off the columns in the measurement record. Button "Record" By clicking the button "Record" you can process the measurement log: You can save the records, you can open old records, you can print it on your standard printer. You can also delete the whole record.
The Page "Settings" On the page "Settings" you can configure the program: You can chose as decimal point a dot (.) or the windows decimal point which can be modified in the system configuration. You can configure DISTO online to start other applications when you start it. Mostly you will choose Microsoft Excel, because of the tight integration of DISTO online within Microsoft Excel. The remote control enables you to configure most keys on your keyboard as function key for DISTO online.
That is very useful if you want to create a drawing from the measurements in a CAD program.
Operation and Possibilities in the Expert Mode By clicking the button "simple" in the lower border of the program, DISTO online could be toggled between simple and expert mode. The substantial differences to the simple mode are on the program page "Send". Moreover a page with the name " functions " is added. The Page "Send" The page "Send" was extended as now the measured values can be always written a fixed position of an application.
The Page "Information" At this page there are now to more buttons labelled "Select DISTO" and "Info about DISTO" Select DISTO Type Manually Click on the button "Select DISTO" and following dialog will pop up: The DISTO model and the serial port setting's can be selected here freely. If from the selection list "Select DISTO" a DISTO model is selected, then the serial port setting's are adjusted accordingly.
The Page "Functions" The page "Functions", which is added in the expert mode, enables you to cause measurements in regular intervals from the computer automatically. The possible measuring intervals are between 23 hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds as the longest interval and five seconds as the shortest interval. It has to be made certain that the measuring interval is not shorter than the measuring period is, since the Leica DISTO could send otherwise errors.
Pages depending by DISTO Type The Page "Data transfer" If a Leica DISTO of the new generation (DISTO pro4) is attached, then this additional page becomes available. On this page then abilities become available, which are only supported by the new generation of the DISTO. This page can be accessed in both modes of DISTO online. With "Configure DISTO" you can download new languages into the DISTO and you can administer your own measurement codes.
Download of User Defined Codes By clicking on button "Codes" following dialog pops up. Here you can change the coding as desired, store them, and load them again. And of course you con download them into the DISTO. For the coding the following limitations exist: Max. 3*20 codes can be downloaded into the DISTO. A code can be as long as max. 8 characters.
Reference: The pages and dialogs of DISTO online The footing line of DISTO online In the footing line of DISTO online there are the following items from the left to the right: This field shows on whether and which DISTO type was detected by DISTO online, and on which port it is attached. If you click this button a measurement is done.
The Page "Send" in the Simple Mode Do not transmit, only record All measurements from the DISTO are only logged into the measurement record. Send to current input position All measurements from the DISTO are formatted as you chose in "Data Format" and were transmitted to the current input position. Additionally the measurements are logged into the measurement record. Measured_value Only the measured value is transmitted. Measured_value[Return] Only the measured value is transmitted followed by a "Return".
The Page "Send" in the Expert Mode Do not transmit, only record All measurements from the DISTO are only logged into the measurement record. Send to current input position All measurements from the DISTO are formatted as you chose in "Data Format" and were transmitted to the current input position. Additionally the measurements are logged into the measurement record.
The Dialog "Format Transmitting String" You get a list with all keywords by clicking the button "Change Data Format..." ## Special character for DISTO online. These characters are used in order to keep two successive keywords apart. E.g. DISTO online could not detect "Measured_valueUnit" as "Measured_value" and "Unit ", but it could detect them when they are edited as "Measured_value##Unit" The characters " # # " are used only internally by DISTO online and are not transmitted.
User's Guide to DISTO Online Distance Only the last distance, not area, volume etc. Min_Dist The determined minimum distance during a continuous measurement which must be started from DISTO online Max_Dist The determined maximum distance during a continuous measurement which must be started from DISTO online Area Only the last area, not distance or volume etc Volume Only the last volume, not distance or area etc.
The Page "Information" in the Simple Mode The page "Information" shows you more exact information about the DISTO online program and about the attached Leica DISTO. If the DISTO outputs error messages, you can get here the error numbers and an explaining text. Search DISTO By clicking this button all serial ports of the computer are scanned for an attached DISTO. If a DISTO is found, then the search is stopped.
The Page "Information" in the Expert Mode The page "Information" shows you more exact information about the DISTO online program and about the attached Leica DISTO. If the DISTO outputs error messages, you can get here the error numbers and an explaining text. Search DISTO By clicking this button all serial ports of the computer are searched for an attached DISTO. If a DISTO is found, then the search is stopped.
The Dialog "Select DISTO and PORT" Select DISTO In this selection list all at present well-known DISTO are listed. If one is selected this, then the fields Baud rate, data bit, parity and stop bit become automatically pre-set to the factory setting's of the respective DISTO. Present well-known DISTO types are DISTO GSI DISTO memo²/pro² DISTO pro4 Port In this selection list all available serial interfaces of the computer are to be listed, i.e. interfaces occupied by another program are not listed here.
The Page "Measurement Record" Here all measurements of DISTO online are logged. The measurements are also stored automatically in the file " DISTO online YYYY-MM_DD.log ". Columns Opens a dialog in which those columns could be selected which are to be displayed. Also own inscriptions for the columns can be defined. Record By clicking the button "Record" you can process the measurement log: You can save the records, you can open old records, you can print it on your standard printer.
The Dialog "Select columns" Here you can select these columns which are to be displayed in the measurement record. By a slow double click on a cell in the column "Legend" you can change the inscription of the corresponding column in the measurement record. All modifications are reflected immediately in the measurement record. Default Values The only following columns are activated: Time, position, Measured value and Unit, all self defined inscriptions are deleted and replaced by the original inscriptions.
The Page "Functions" Here it can be adjusted whether and in which time interval DISTO online cause measurements. This can be used for monitoring functions. Execute automatically measurements in the following interval The possible measuring intervals are between 23 hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds as the longest interval and five seconds as the shortest interval. It has to be made certain that the measuring interval is not shorter than the measuring period is, since the Leica DISTO could send otherwise errors.
The Page "Settings" Decimal point Some programs need the dot as decimal point, other one may need the comma for decimal separators. Here can be adjusted which character should be used as decimal point DISTO online always on top If this box is checked, DISTO online will always stay on top of any other program.
The Page "Data transfer" This page appears only if a DISTO of the newer generation (DISTO pro4) is attached to the computer. Codes... This button a dialog pops up in which you can manage the usercodes for DISTO measurements. Language This button starts the Windows "file open" dialog. There you can choose a language file for the DISTO. If you accept the dialog with [OK] then the language is downloaded to the DISTO. Delete! This button deletes all the DISTOs memory.
Manage DISTO Usercodes Load Codes By clicking this button a Windows "File open" box pops up. Here you can select any saved codes. Save Codes By clicking this button you can save the current codes to any file using the windows "File save as" box. Send to DISTO By clicking this button DISTO online downloads the current codes to the Leica DISTO. The progress is visualised by a progress bar. Caution: Do not disconnect your DISTO during transfer! Edit Codes By double clicking into a cell you can edit the code.
The Page "Leica" Here you can read some interesting information about DISTO online. There are also some hyperlinks for your browser.
Troubleshooting DISTO online did not detect a Leica DISTO Can't open COMx:. The device is not available or not existing. If DISTO online only display such line on page information there may be following errors: The serial ports COM1, 2 etc. are missing actually. Maybe check your BIOS setup. The interface COM1, 2 etc. is occupied by another program. That could be e.g. a driver for a modem, a driver for a mouse, a synchronisation program for a Palm, a Psion or a Windows CE Organiser etc..
DISTO online displays "your system files are outdated... " On your system some outdated system files are installed, i.e. you have one of the first versions of Windows 95, or of Windows NT 4.0. You can update the system files as follows: Install the Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.x or newer. The installation of this program updates also most system files on your computer. Install the max. installation of DISTO online. It will update also update all necessary system files.
Glossary DISTO GSI The Leica DISTO with the serial "Geo System Interface". This differs slightly from a RS232 interface. The DISTO GSI usually functions, but not always, with a computer. The factory settings for the serial port are: 2400 baud, 7 data bit, 1 stop bit, even parity DISTO memo²/pro² The DISTO based upon DISTO basic. The factory settings for the serial port are: 9600 baud, 7 data bit, 1 stop bit, even parity DISTO pro4 The newest DISTO.
Index I information 2, 9, 16–19, 27, 29 installation 1–2, 30 interface 1–2, 29 L language 11, 25 U uninstall 2, 29 User's Guide to DISTO Online Index • 33
