Understanding Your Device Data Structure for WinWedge Configuration

What This Guide Covers This technical note helps you understand the data structure from your scale, balance, meter, or other serial/Ethernet-connected device. Once you understand your data structure, you can use WinWedge’s simple menus to configure data parsing, filtering, and formatting—no programming required. WinWedge then sends the formatted data to your chosen application like Excel or web forms. Why Understanding Data Structure Matters Before configuring WinWedge to parse and filter data from your device, you must understand:

• • What data your device transmits

• • Which parts of the data are important to you

• • How to identify data records and fields within those records

• • Which fields to keep and which to ignore

How to Analyze Your Device’s Data Output with WinWedge

Go to Port>Analyze dialog box. Observe the live data that your device transmits in the “Input” box. Most devices need you to hit the PRINT button on the device or send a command to them to get then to send data. See tech note no_data_appears_in_the_analyze_window. Understanding WinWedge’s Data Processing Approach WinWedge treats each input from your device as a data record containing one or more data fields. You need to identify:

1. 1. How to separate one record from the next
   2. How to separate individual fields within each record
   3. Which fields are important for your application

Configuring Data Records in WinWedge After viewing your device’s raw data in the Port>Analyze window:

1. 1. Go to Define menu
   2. Select “Input Data Record Structure”

Define Three Key Components

1. 1. Start Of Record Event – What signals the beginning of a data record. Often the first Character received, the first numeric character or a special character.
   2. End Of Record Event – What signals the end of a data record. Often a <CR>  (carriage return) or <CR><LF> or a time delay.
   3. Record Structure – How fields are organized (single field, multiple delimited fields, or fixed-length fields). If Delimited fields then what is the delimiter character

Real Data Structure Examples

Example 1: Simple Data (such as a scale or meter) Device Output: 110,250,801<Cr><Lf> Data Analysis:

• • Three numeric fields separated by commas

• • Record ends with carriage return and line feed <Cr><Lf>

WinWedge Configuration:

1. 1. Start Of Record Event: “Any Character Received”
   2. End Of Record Event: “Carriage Return or CrLf Received”
   3. Record Structure: “Multiple Delimited Data Fields” (3 fields, comma delimited)

Note: In WinWedge’s Port>Analyze window, carriage return <Cr> appears as a musical note, line feed <Lf> appears as a small rectangle with a circle. Click on the ASCII chart button for details) Example 2: Laboratory Instrument with Mixed Delimited Output Device Output: Sample#1,*213**32****23**<Cr><Lf> Sample#2,*215**437**141**797**89**56<Cr><Lf> Data Analysis Challenge:

• • Records have different numbers of fields

• • Uses both commas and asterisks as separators

WinWedge Solution (1) Using Pre-Input Character Translation:

1. 1. Configure WinWedge to translate all asterisks (*) to commas (,)
   2. Result becomes: Sample#1,,213,,32,,,,23,,<Cr><Lf>
   3. Count maximum fields across all records (13 fields in this example)
   4. Configure for “Multiple Delimited Data Fields” with 13 maximum fields

WinWedge Solution (2) Using Pre-Input Character Translation to Spaces: In WinWedge consecutive spaces are treated as a single delimiter.

1. 1. In the above example, if instead of translating asterisks to commas, translate both commas and asterisks to spaces.
   2. Choose space character as your delimiter:

Sample#1 213 32 23 <CR><Lf> Sample#2 215 437 141 797 89 56 <Cr> <Lf> 3.Configure for “Multiple Delimited Data Fields” with 6 maximum fields Example 3: More Complex Multi-Line Device Output (Like Printer Format) Device Output: Device# Height Width Length<Cr><Lf> ———————————————————<Cr><Lf> 1 23 12 24<Cr><Lf> 2 27 13 8<Cr><Lf> 3 27 13 9<Cr><Lf> 4 27 13 8<Cr><Lf> ———————————————————<Cr><Lf> Option 1 – Capture Only Data Lines:

• • Start Of Record Event: “Numeric Character Received”

• • End Of Record Event: “Carriage Return or CrLf Received”

• • 4 fields/record. Delimiter is space character

• • Result: Only lines with numeric data are processed (header and separator lines ignored)

Option 2 – Combine All Numbers in One Record:

• • Start Of Record Event: “Numeric Character Received”

• • End Of Record Event: “Special Character Received” (dash character)*

• • Use Pre-Input Translation to convert line breaks to spaces

• • Result: All 16 numbers become fields in a single record

*alternative the End of Record Event could be a time delay (default of 3 clock ticks is usually good)

How WinWedge Processes Your Data

WinWedge follows this sequence:

1. 1. Waits for your defined “Start Of Record Event”
   2. Captures characters until “End Of Record Event” occurs
   3. Parses the data according to your Record Structure definition
   4. Applies any filters, math functions, or formatting you’ve configured
   5. Sends each processed field to your target application with defined separators

Key Points for Successful Configuration Flexibility in Data Definition Most device data can be configured multiple ways in WinWedge. Choose the approach that best fits your needs. Creative Solutions Available Understanding your device’s data patterns and WinWedge’s menu options allows you to handle complex data structures without programming. Multiple Valid Approaches The same data stream can often be treated as multiple small records or fewer large records, depending on your application requirements. What This Enables Once you understand your data structure and configure WinWedge appropriately, the software automatically:

• • Captures data from your scale, balance, gage, meter, sensor or other device

• • Parses and filters the data according to your specifications

• • Formats the output for your chosen destination (Excel, web forms, databases, etc.)

• • Handles the data transfer without requiring programming or manual intervention

With proper understanding of your device’s data output and WinWedge’s configuration menus, you can transform complex serial data collection into a simple, automated process. Easily collect real-time data into your chosen Windows application or web form.