|
Suppose that you had an instrument that provided some sort
of data on a regular basis and you wanted to update an HTML
file with new data each time it was transmitted from the
instrument.
One way to do this is to set up the Wedge in "Send
Keystrokes" mode and have it send keystrokes containing
HTML code along with the data from the instrument to the
NotePad program.
In this case we first set up the Wedge so that each time
it receives new data from the instrument it opens the NotePad
program and automatically loads in an existing HTML document.
We also define the "Record Preamble Keystrokes" in
the Wedge that will select all the text in the NotePad window
and overwrite it with all the HTML code that will go before
the actual data from the instrument. Finally we define the "Field
Postamble Keystrokes" after the last data field defined
in the Wedge to contain all the HTML code that will go after
the actual data. We also need to add in a few additional
keystrokes that will save the new HTML file overwriting the
old one and finally close the NotePad program.
When you select "Send Keystrokes" from the mode
menu in the Wedge, it will ask you for the "Application
Title Bar Text" and the "Command Line" for
the application that you want to receive the keystrokes.
In this case you would enter: NotePad for the Application
Title Bar Text and then specify: Notepad.Exe mypage.htm where "mypage.htm" is
the full path and file name for the HTML file that you want
to update. When you specify a file name on the command line
used to launch NotePad, NotePad will automatically load in
the specified file.
The following HTML code is a minimal example of what you
might need in your HTML document.
(The META command on the third line will cause most browsers
to automatically refresh the page every 5 seconds. Please
refer to your favorite HTML code reference for an explanation
of the HTML tags in the following code.)
| |
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Refresh" CONTENT=5>
<TITLE>Real Time Data Provided By Software Wedge</TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
<H1>Serial Data goes here maybe</H1>
</BODY>
</HTML>
|
To get the Wedge to write the above code you would use the
following text in the "Record Preamble Keystrokes" in
the Wedge:
%ea<HTML>~<HEAD>~<META HTTP-EQUIV="Refresh" CONTENT=5>~<TITLE>Real
Time Data Provided By Software Wedge</TITLE>~</HEAD>~<BODY>~<H1>
The keystrokes %ea means "Alt+e a" and will cause
Notepad to select all the text in the Notepad window. The
tilde (~) characters cause the Wedge to send "Enter" keystrokes.
The tilde is equivalent in meaning to the word "{ENTER}" when
defining preamble and postamble keystrokes in the Wedge.
The "Field Postamble Keystrokes" after the last
data field defined in the Wedge would be:
</H1>~</BODY>~</HTML>~%fx~
The keystrokes %fx mean "Alt+f x" and when sent
to Notepad, cause it to select "Exit" from its
File menu. The final tilde (Enter keystroke) is required
because Notepad will prompt you with a message box asking
you if you want to save changes to the file. If the Enter
key is pressed in response to the prompt, Notepad overwrites
the existing file with the new data.
Each time that the Wedge receives new data from the device,
it will launch Notepad automatically loading in the old HTML
file and then it overwrites the file with the same HTML code
but with new data from the instrument. Finally it unloads
Notepad and saves the new file and overwriting the old one.
The process will repeat itself each time you receive new
data from the instrument.
More Cool
Wedge Tricks
|
