4.2 Data Visualizer
The data visualizer is a customizable tool (PC software) from Microchip meant to process and visualize data from the microcontroller over a specified communication interface. The data visualizer can receive data from various sources such as the Embedded Debugger Data Gateway Interface (DGI) and/or serial communication ports.
This section gives an overview of the main modules and features of the data visualizer used in this demonstration.
- Serial Port
The data visualizer serial port can connect to a PC serial port or USB (using serial to USB). The data visualizer supports all standard baud rates of serial UART communication, and in the application demonstration, the baud rate is set to 230400.
- Graph
The graph module is a graph plotting tool. This module allows to plot a number of signals from different sources, such as sliders input, power measurement input, and serial port, simultaneously. This demonstration graph is used to show the three-phase emulator signals.
- Custom Dashboard
The dashboard module is a customizable Graphical User Interface (GUI) panel. It can be used to send and receive data from the target application. It can be used to control and display parameters from the application firmware. Elements (button, label, slider, etc.) are placed in the dashboard area to form the GUI. Each element can have an endpoint associated with it to send or receive values. A slider, for example, has a source that outputs the slider position as a numeric value, which can be sent to the application firmware. Endpoints are shown when the Show Endpoints option is selected.
- Data Stream Protocol
The data stream module takes an incoming raw data stream and splits it into multiple data streams. The data stream format is specified by a configuration file provided by the user. The configuration file is a comma-delimited text file that specifies one data variable per line.
For more details about the data visualizer, refer to the Data Visualizer user guide.