Plot Manager Overview

To access the Plot Manager:
On the Plots menu, click Open Plot Manager.

Use the Plot Manager to:

View Plots
From the Plot Manager, you can start, trigger, save and export plots.
Tune the Axes
Use the Tuning Tools to efficiently and easily issue commands, change and download gains, and view plots of moves.
Edit Plot Templates
Access the Plot Template Editor from the Plotting tab.

For general details on using plots in the RMC, see the Plots Overview topic. For help on the various parts of the Plot Manager, see the Plot Manager Elements topic.

The following instructions apply to plots in general and to time-based plots. For instructions specific to XY plots, see Using XY Plots.

How To...

Upload a Captured Plot

On the Plotting tab, click Capture for the desired plot template to upload the latest captured plot.

The RMC starts capturing plot data when a motion command is sent, the Start Plot (100) command is sent, or the plot is triggered. The RMC captures this data for as long as specified by the plot capture duration in the Plot Template Editor, and stores this data internally. To view the captured plot data, you need to upload the captured plot. By default, each plot template contains data for the corresponding axis number, although you can edit each template to include any data in the RMC.

If you attempt to upload a captured plot that has not been triggered, or has been re-armed, the Plot Manager will indicate it is waiting for a plot trigger before it can upload plot data.

It is usually not necessary to stop the upload of the captured plot, as it will stop at the defined capture duration. If you do wish to stop the capture upload, click Capture, or press Esc.

Trend a Plot

On the Plotting tab, click Trend. To stop the trend, click Trend, or press Esc.

Trending continuously uploads the plot data while it is being captured in the RMC. Set the trend duration in the Plot Template Editor. Trend data beyond that time will be lost. Trending will upload data as fast the communications allows, and some plot samples may be missed. If you need every plot sample without any gaps, use Capture mode.

While trending, the cursor will be at the end of the plot (with the newest data) and the Plot Details window will show the values of the newest data. If you click in the plot while trending, the cursor will be placed at that location. To snap the cursor to the newest data again, click or press End, or move the horizontal scroll bar all the way to the right.

Zoom and Scroll

	Mouse	Keyboard	Toolbar
Horizontal Zoom	Ctrl + Mouse Wheel	Ctrl + Plus Sign
Horizontal Scroll	Shift+Mouse Wheel	-	-
Horizontal Reset1	-	-
Vertical Zoom2	Ctr+Shift+Mouse Wheel	Ctrl+Shift+Plus Sign Ctrl+Shift+Minus Sign
Vertical Scroll2	Mouse Wheel	-	-
Vertical Reset1	-	-
Reset All¹	-	-

1 Resets auto-scaled items to fit the data. For manually scaled items, resets the scale to the manual setting.

2 Vertical zoom and scroll applies to the currently selected item and all items in the same scale group.

Vertical manual scaling:

The vertical scale of items in a plot can be manually set. The scale applies to the item currently selected in the Plot Details list, and all items in the same scale group, which are highlighted in light blue. In the Plot Details window, right-click the item and choose Set Scale. Or, in the plot window, right-click and choose Set Scale.

Move the Cursor in the Plot Window

Click and drag in the plot window to move the cursor. The Plot Details window in the lower left displays all the plot data at the location of the hairline cursor. Move the hairline cursor to view the data at any sample.
To display the absolute time of the cursor, which is the same time as shown in the Event Log, on the Plots menu, point to View, then click Show Absolute Time.

Understand the Vertical Scale

Clicking an item in the Plot Details list will change the vertical scale in the plot to apply to that item, if the item has a plotted line. All items that the currently displayed vertical scale applies to will be highlighted in light blue. The vertical color bar next to the vertical scale will also display the colors of all the items that share the same vertical scale group.

View Tuning Parameters at the Time the Plot was Captured

Click the Parameters tab below the Plot Details tab to view the axis parameters at the time the plot was captured. These parameters are uploaded immediately after the plot upload is completed.

Trigger a Plot

On the Plots menu (in the menu bar at the top of RMCTools), click Trigger Plot. Before triggering a plot, it may need to be rearmed. To rearm a plot, on the Online menu, click Rearm Plot. You can also use the Trigger Plot (102) and Rearm Plot (103) commands.

Triggering a plot will cause the RMC to start capturing plot data and store the data internally. To view it, you will also need to upload the captured plot.

You can change the trigger settings. See Triggering Plots for details.

Trim a Plot

First, show the second cursor:

Press and hold Shift and click in the plot window.
Or, in the plot window, right-click and choose Show 2nd Cursor.

Second:

Use the mouse to adjust the cursors for the desired trim area
Right-click and choose Create Trimmed Plot.

A new trimmed plot will be added to the Plot History. The original plot will be unchanged. Trimming a plot is useful for picking out only the information needed. It can also be used for picking out one move to be used in the Tuning Wizard with an existing plot. Using the Tuning Wizard with existing plots requires plots of motion that include motion in only one direction.

Use an XY Plot

See Using XY Plots.

Save Plots

Plots you have uploaded are listed on the History tab. They are not saved in the RMCTools project. To save plots, you must save them as follows:

On the Plot Manager toolbar, click Save Plot(s).
- Or, on the Plot History pane, right-click a plot in the list and choose Save Plot(s).
- Or, in the plot window, right-click the currently displayed plot and choose Save Plot(s).
In the Select Plot to Save dialog, choose the plots to include, then click Save.
Browse to the desired folder.
Click Save.

See Saving and Exporting Plots for details.

If you forgot to save plots before closing RMCTools, you can retrieve backup copies of uploaded plots:

In the Plot Manager, on the History tab, expand Auto-Saved Plots, then click View Auto-Saved Plots.
Choose the plots you wish to retrieve. You can select multiple files by holding the Shift or Ctrl keys while clicking the files.
Click Open.

For more details, see Auto-SavedPlots.

Open a Saved Plot File

In the Plot Manager toolbar, click the Open Plot File button. In the Open dialog, browse to the desired plot file, select it, and click Open. In the Open dialog, you can use the Ctrl or Shift key to select multiple files.

See Saving and Exporting Plots for details.

Export a Plot

On the history tab, right-click a plot and choose Export Plot. The plot can be exported use in other programs such as Microsoft Excel. See Saving and Exporting Plots for details.

Print a Plot

On the toolbar, click the Print button to print the currently viewed plot.
If the number of vertical scales causes the available plot area to be less than 50% of the printable area, the remaining vertical scales will not be included in the plot. To prevent this from occurring, group scales together in the Plot Template settings.

Using the Tuning Tools

To open the tuning tools, click the Tuning tab in the Plot History pane. For details, see the Tuning Tools topic.