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Copyright Boian Mitov 2004 - 2009
Index
Installation .......................................................................................................................................... 2
Where is PlotLab?............................................................................................................................... 2
Creating a new PlotLab project in Visual C#........................................................................................ 2
Installing the PlotLab components on the Toolbox ............................................................................... 4
Adding the necessary assembly references to your application ........................................................... 10
Developing under 64 bit Windows..................................................................................................... 11
Creating a simple Scope application .................................................................................................. 12
Creating a simple Waterfall application ............................................................................................. 16
Distributing your application ............................................................................................................. 19
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PlotLab .NET 4.0
Installation
PlotLab comes with an installation program. Just start the installation by double-clicking
on the Setup.exe file and follow the installation instructions.
Where is PlotLab?
After the installation PlotLab is located under a single root directory. The default location
is C:\Program Files\LabPacks. During the installation the user has the option to select
alternative directory.
Here is how the directory structure should look like after the installation:
Under the “Demos” directory are located the demo files. The help files and the
documentation are located under the “Help” directory. The component .NET 2.0
assemblies and the redistributable DLL/BPL files are located under the “Bin” directory.
The “Redistributable” directory contains the installer for the Microsoft CRT libraries.
They have to be present on any system where you plan to use PlotLab.
It is a great idea to start by opening and compiling the demo files. The demo projects
ware developed with Visual C# 2005.
Creating a new PlotLab project in Visual C#
All of the examples in this manual start with creating a C# Windows .NET based project.
The following chapters will assume that you have created the project and will teach you
how to add specific PlotLab functionality.
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PlotLab .NET 4.0
Start by creating a new project.
From the VC++ menu, select | File | New | Project… |
In the "New Project" dialog select | Visual C# | Windows Application |
Optionally you can select a project path and project name:
Click OK.
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PlotLab .NET 4.0
Installing the PlotLab components on the Toolbox
Before using the components in your project, you will have to install them on the
component Toolbox.
The install in version 3.1 and up will automatically install the components on the toolbar,
however if it fails, or if you have selected not to do so during the installation, here is a
way to install the components manually:
We assume that you have already created a project, and the toolbox with the .NET
components has appeared.
Open the component toolbox and expand the General section.
Right-click and select |Add Tab| from the menu:
Name the new tab “PlotLab”:
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PlotLab .NET 4.0
Right-click and select |Add Tab| from the menu:
Name the new tab “SignalLab”:
Right-click on the PlotLab tab and select |Choose Items…| from the menu:
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PlotLab .NET 4.0
In the “Choose Toolbox Items” dialog click on the “Browse…” button:
Select the PlotLabBasic.dll from the LabPacks\Bin subdirectory:
Click “Open”.
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PlotLab .NET 4.0
In the “Choose Toolbox Items” dialog click on the “Browse…” button:
Select the PlotLab.dll from the LabPacks\Bin subdirectory:
Click “Open”.
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PlotLab .NET 4.0