MAIN MENU

The Main menu is the first graphics window that loads and contains the commands to set the current profile and to launch other tools for data visualization and for programming the devices. We will call these tools ECT Clients or Modules . The window will automatically position at the top of the screen. The iconisation of the window involves the iconisation of all other modules and the recall of the window that is in iconized state, involves the reactivation of all other modules.

The devices that ECT can handle are electronic devices provided with CAN communication line, typically ECUs. In order to access data of a physical device, ECT must have a database file [devicename].XML corresponding to the physical device. ECT reads from this database the information it needs to visualize data, programme firmware, manage engine calibrations, etc. The device editor provides access to this kind of database to view or edit data.

A profile is a custom environment that allows user to save under an identification name a collection of displays together with a set of settings stored in a database file [profilename].PDBX. The profile manager provides commands to create, delete, copy, import and export profiles.

Information on the selected profile can be read on the left side of the window

• Selected profile name. In the upper box you can read the name of the selected profile. When the dialog loads, the selected profile is the current profile.
• Profile list. Below the current profile, find the list of all existing profiles.
• Description. The description of the selected profile.
• Referenced devices. The devices used in the display screens of the selected devices. All the display screens are scanned to retrieve the list of the used devices.
• Related workspaces. The workspaces that contain links to display screens of the selected profile.

Commands on the selected profile can be launched with the buttons on the right side of the window.

• Open profile.
  • Select an existing profile and push the button ‘Open profile’. The profile will be set as the current profile.
• New profile. Type a new profle name in the text box and push the button ‘Ok’. A new profile will be created and set as current profile.
• Copy Profile. You will be prompted to name the copy of the current profile. The new profile will contain a copy of all of the current profile’s data view screens.
• Rename profile. The command loads a diaolg to specify the new name of the profile.
• Delete profile. You will be prompted to confirm you want to delete the profile. The deletion of the profile involves the deletions of all its display screens a all the content of the folder [profilename].USR.
• Import profile. You will be prompted to select a profile to import. Allowed extensions are PDBX and XIP. If You select a XIP file, ECT will load a dialog showing the list of the files that can be extracted. You can extract them all or select a few.
• Export profile. You will be prompted to specify a XIP file to export the profile to. After the file has been created, a new dialog will show the list of the exported files and you will be able to add other files to the XIP file.
• Modify XIP file. The command allows you to load a previously created XIP file and add or delete files.
• Update description. Type a new description in the box below the label ‘Description of the profile’ and use the command ‘Update description’.

• Unit of measurement conversion list box. The box is visible if the file “[ECTFOLDER]\Common\ConversionFormulas.XML” is present. Various groups can be defined within the file, one for each type of conversion, and various conversion formulas can be defined to be associated with each group. If the groups “Metric -> US” and “Metric -> UK” have been defined in the file, a drop-down menu with 3 choices will be displayed on the screen:
  • No unit conversion
  • Metric -> US
  • Metric -> UK

Each formula associated with a group has a Gain (multiplier), an Offset (quantity to add), a source unit of measurement and a destination unit of measurement. If one of the groups is selected and therefore activated, the channels that have as their unit of measurement the unit declared as ‘source unit’ in the formula will apply the formula and that is, the value shown on the screen will be modified by applying the gain and the offset and the unit of measurement will be modified using the ‘destination unit of measurement’.

Example. In the group ‘Metric -> US’ there is the conversion formula from  degrees Celsius to Fahrenheit in which Gain=1.8, Offset=32, source unit =°C and destination unit = °F are defined. The conversion only works if the unit of measurement in the channel definition (where degrees Celsius are always used) is exactly °C. If another text is also used (for example C) another formula must be created with source unit = C.

• Reassign devices. The command loads a dialog showing on the left the list of the devices used in the selected profile and on the right the replacement devices. When the dialog loads, the two lists should match but user can change the replacement devices choosing from the dropdown lists. If user pushes the ‘Ok’ button, the replacements will be applied to all display screens in the profile.

You can create screens displaying any ECU parameter measured and calculated for each type of ECU. A screen can display any number of channels in any size, font and colour. You can add LED’s in various colours to ease the data monitoring and potentiometers for easy adjustments of numerous parameters. The display screen is also used to configure your AMC. If the device database is ELF oriented, you can also use a screen to display calibration values. Displays tool provides commands to create, modify, organize and load this kind of screen.

The Calibration editor opens the editor and gives access to the data in the engine calibrations, the ECU Setup calibrations and learn calibrations. All types of calibrations can be accessed working either online with the ECU or offline.

Memory interface provides access to commands to flash the device memory, to read and write the calibration, to manage diagnostic functions (if available for the current device), to manage the making of HDP and CRP files.

Simple menu to arrange vertically the clients (displays and/or calibration editor and/or memory interface currently loaded on screen.

Tool for graphically displaying data recorded from the control unit by the Display module using the F3 (Log) function. It can also open MDF files generated by other systems.

OSCILLOSCOPE

Tool for configuring and launching high frequency data acquisition in the control unit. The acquisition can be performed only if the firmware programmed on the device includes the necessary code and resources.

WORKSPACE

Workspaces management. A workspace is a set of information describing the current situation on screen – running clients, display screens, calibrations, etc. By using workspaces, a user can save and rstore a complex working condition by just one single click.

• Language. You can select the interface language. Available languages are Italian and English.

• Server IP.  The communication protocol used to exchange data between the clients (all the modules of ECT) and the EFI communication server, allows to have them installed onto different Pcs. This can be useful for a supervisor user who needs access to a device connected to a remote machine to investigate a problem that have been reported by the user of the remote machine. The supervisor runs the client on his machine redirecting all the communication requests to the IP of the remote PC where the EFI communication server and the EFI driver are running and where the device is physically connected through the EFI CAN interface. The user can select the IP where the server application resides. By default the IP is 127.0.0.1 which corresponds to the local machine.

• Choose the path to save the files that describe the devices, the files that store the data display screens and the files that store the workspaces. There are 2 options:

• • The data directory is the installation directory. Default option and the only possible in versions prior to version 4.12.698
  • The data directory is C:\ProgramData\EFI Technology\ECT

• Choose whether you want the frame of the main menu window to be visible or not.
• Enable the option ‘Windows auto hide’ to minimize the screen space occupied by the main menu and maximize the screen space available for client applications.

• Change the height of the default interface font. The allowed values range from 7 to 12. The default height is 9.

• Sets the visibility of some commands:

• • Device Management
  • ASAP3 Module
  • Oscilloscope
  • ECU Logger (only if the optional module is installed)

• Choose whether a workspace should be automatically saved on exit and reloaded on startup. If selected, when starting a new work session ECT will display the same screens that were displayed when the previous work session ended.