User Interface Overview

UI Nomenclature

This section provides an overview of the LabOne User Interface, its main elements and naming conventions. The LabOne User Interface is a browser-based UI provided as the primary interface to the PQSC instrument. Multiple browser sessions can access the instrument simultaneously and the user can have displays on multiple computer screens. Parallel to the UI, the instrument can be controlled and read out by custom programs written in any of the supported languages (e.g. LabVIEW, MATLAB, Python, C) connecting through the LabOne APIs.

functional whole UI pqsc
Figure 1. LabOne User Interface (default view)

The LabOne User Interface automatically opens some tabs by default after a new UI session has been started. At start-up, the UI is divided into two tab rows, each containing a tab structure that gives access to the different LabOne tools. Depending on display size and application, tab rows can be freely added and deleted with the control elements on the right-hand side of each tab bar. Similarly, the individual tabs can be deleted or added by selecting app icons from the side bar on the left. A click on an icon adds the corresponding tab to the display, alternatively the icon can be dragged and dropped into one of the tab rows. Moreover, tabs can be moved by drag-and-drop within a row or across rows.

Table 1 gives a brief descriptions and naming conventions for the most important UI items.

Table 1. LabOne User Interface features
Item name Position Description Contains

side bar

left-hand side of the UI

contains app icons for each of the available tabs - a click on an icon adds or activates the corresponding tab in the active tab row

app icons

status bar

bottom of the UI

contains important status and warning indicators, device and session information, and access to the command log

status indicators

main area

center of the UI

accommodates all active tabs – new rows can be added and removed by using the control elements in the top right corner of each tab row

tab rows, each consisting of tab bar and the active tab area

tab area

inside of each tab

provides the active part of each tab consisting of settings, controls and measurement tools

sections, plots, sub-tabs, unit selections

Unique Set of Analysis Tools

All instruments feature a comprehensive tool set for connecting and synchronizing multiple instruments.

The following table gives the overview of all app icons. Note that the selection of app icons may depend on the upgrade options installed on a given instrument.

Table 2. Overview of app icons and short description
Control/Tool Option/Range Description

Files

btn mnu files um

Access settings and measurement data files on the host computer.

Config

btn mnu mainconfig um

Provides access to software configuration.

Ports

btn mnu inout um

Control and status display of the 18 ZSync ports.

Feedback

btn mnu feedback um

Control and display of the feedback pipeline.

Device

btn mnu device um

Provides instrument specific settings.

ZI Labs

btn mnu lab um

Experimental settings and controls.

Table 3 provides a quick overview over the different status bar elements along with a short description.

Table 3. Status bar description
Control/Tool Option/Range Description

Shutdown

Shuts down the instrument.

CLK

yellow/green/red

State of internal clocks. Yellow: Device is warming up and will be ready 30 minutes after power-up. Do not lock to external reference clock or start triggering yet. Green: Device is warmed up and ready to use. Red: Clocks have become unstable. Expect potential phase errors. This might be caused by temperature changes.

Command log

last command

Shows the last command. A different formatting (MATLAB, Python, ..) can be set in the config tab. The log is also saved in [User]\Documents\Zurich Instruments\LabOne\WebServer\Log

Show Log

btn uielements external

Show the command log history in a separate browser window.

Errors

Errors

Display system errors in separate browser tab.

Device

devXXX

Indicates the device serial number.

Identify Device

btn uielements identify um

When active, device LED blinks

MDS

grey/green/red/yellow

Multiple device synchronization indicator. Grey: Nothing to synchronize - single device on the UI. Green: All devices on the UI are correctly synchronized. Yellow: MDS sync in progress or only a subset of the connected devices is synchronized. Red: Devices not synchronized or error during MDS sync.

REC

grey/red

A blinking red indicator shows ongoing data recording (related to global recording settings in the Config tab).

CF

grey/yellow/red

Clock Failure - Red: present malfunction of the external 10 MHz reference oscillator. Yellow: indicates a malfunction occurred in the past.

COM

grey/yellow/red

Packet Loss - Red: present loss of data between the device and the host PC. Yellow: indicates a loss occurred in the past.

COM

grey/yellow/red

Sample Loss - Red: present loss of sample data between the device and the host PC. Yellow: indicates a loss occurred in the past.

C

btn uielements C um

Reset status flags: Clear the current state of the status flags

Full Screen

btn uielements fullscreen um

Toggles the browser between full screen and normal mode.