Help Center - CANalyzer Level 2

The Trace Window provides streaming information about the messages on the active bus.  Components of the message are broken up within the Trace Window and give a timestamp based on their receipt.  With the addition of a database, each message can then be expanded to reveal the signal values in raw, physical, and engineering values.



What do I see?

Within the trace window, messages from the bus are displayed.  Each line is a specific message.  Each line is broken up into these default values:

• Time
• Channel
• Message ID
• Name
• Direction
• DLC
• Data

How is it configured?

The Trace Window can be configured by right-clicking in the window and selecting “Configuration”.

Within the configuration window users can make changes to how the information is displayed, what columns are visible, and the size of the buffer that holds stored messages.

How many are possible?

There is no limit to the number of Trace Windows that can exist within a single CANalyzer configuration.

What are the differences with and without a database?

The Trace Window behaves differently when a database is associated than when a database is not.  Without a database the Trace Window will display:

• The timestamp from when the message was received
• The channel the message was received on
• The message ID
• The direction (DIR) of the message
• The DLC
• And the data field

The Name column will remain blank, and there will be no means to look at the individual signals within the message.

Once a database has been associated however, the Trace Window provides much more useful information.  The Name column will now display the symbolic name of the message and each message can be expanded by clicking on the plus (+) box.  This expanded view will list each signal, with its symbolic name, that exists within the message, its enumerated or physical value, and its raw data value.



What other information is possible?

The Trace Window is also capable of providing an expanded view of the data it reports.  To see these options, right-click in the Trace Window and select “Open detail view”.  A new window pane with three view tabs will be added to the Trace Window.



These view tabs offer the following information:

• Detail view shows a detailed view of the messages/signals including their values.
• Difference view offers a direct comparison of different events.  For the same signal it will display the difference in values, while for all signals it will display the difference in timestamps.
• Statistics view displays a statistical analysis of selected signals.  For the same signal it will display the min, max, and mean of the values, while for all signals it will display the min, max, and mean of the timestamps.

What is absolute time vs. relative time?

In the configuration options, two time formats are selectable: absolute and relative.

Absolute timestamps will indicate the specific point in time at which the message was received, beginning from the measurement start.  Relative timestamps on the other hand, will indicate the time in relation to the preceding message.

What do the buttons on the toolbar do?

By default, the Trace Window toolbar is found in the main CANalyzer window toolbar.

• Clear the trace window contents
• Pause/resume update:
• Pausing the Trace Window only holds the current data on the screen.  The buffer continues to function as normal.  Resuming the Trace will start the data stream at the current timestamp.
• Toggle relative time mode
• Toggle display mode:
  There are two methods of displaying data in the Trace Window; fixed position and chronological.  Fixed position will only have one entry per unique message that is on the bus.  This entry will change values as the values within the message change.  Chronological will display all messages as they come across the bus with each line being a single event on the bus.
• Open detailed Trace view
• Trace configuration

What are my configuration options?

Within the configuration menu, the Trace window has 4 different areas of configuration.

1. Standard
   The Standard tab contains information pertaining to how data is displayed in the Trace window; be it a chronological order of all messages as they appear on the bus or a fixed list only updating the latest time the message occurred.  The messages can either be viewed with their symbolic names, garnered from the database, or as their numerical value.  Numbering can be viewed in either decimal or HEX.  Finally, the timestamp can be set to report absolute time or relative time.
2. Columns
   Each Trace window has a default set of columns to help decipher the hexadecimal values into some meaningful data.  For each bus type and protocol available to CANalyzer, there will be a unique set of columns available.  Simply choose the bus type or protocol, and then select the desired fields.
3. Rows
   Events can be pinned here, and pinned events sorted.
4. Extended
   The Trace window does not default to a real time view of the bus.  Real time would be unreadable by human eyes with the speeds that most messages cycle at.  To fix this, the Trace window is setup to provide a snapshot look at the bus based on its own selected cycle time.    This time can be changed to whatever cycle is required for visual analysis.  Additionally, the amount of information stored within the Trace window is limited to a set number of messages.  This number can be changed to suit a user’s specific needs.  It is worth noting that the buffer is intended to remain small.  For capturing large amounts of data it is recommended to use the logging features of CANalyzer.

Can I examine a single message?

By pinning an event in the Trace Window it is possible to look at a single event without it being lost in the clutter of all the other transmitted and received messages.



To pin an event:

1. Right-click on the desired event
2. Select “Pin Event”

Or:

1. Right-click anywhere in the Trace Window
2. Select “Configuration”
3. Click on the “Rows” tab
4. Click the “Events” button
5. Select the desired events from the popup window
6. Click “OK”

Pinned events will appear at the top of the Trace Window with a pin icon to their left.  These events can be sorted and arranged on the Rows tab of the Configuration window.