System and method for application control in measurement devices

Abstract

A system and method for application control in measurement devices is disclosed. The method includes installing a new application using the device's graphical user interface, extending the device's menu system for the new application, launching the new application using the device's extended menu system, and controlling the device using the new application through a remote control mechanism of the device. A system of application control in a measurement device is also disclosed.

1 . A measurement device adapted to acquire and process data from an external device and display a representation of the data, said measurement device comprising: 
 a graphical user interface logic adapted to display the representation of the data on a graphical user interface; and    application control logic adapted to receive text information from an application into a user-editable text file and adapted to extend functionality of the measurement device by augmenting the graphical user interface with the text information, wherein the text information specifies an object to be displayed on the graphical user interface and an insertion location of the object in the graphical user interface.    
   
   
       2 . The measurement device of  claim 1 , further comprising a remote control mechanism to allow one of a plurality of new applications to control the measurement device.  
   
   
       3 . The measurement device of  claim 2 , wherein the remote control mechanism includes a general purpose interface bus interface.  
   
   
       4 . The measurement device of  claim 2 , wherein the remote control mechanism includes an RS-232 interface.  
   
   
       5 . The measurement device of  claim 2 , wherein the remote control mechanism includes a universal serial bus interface.  
   
   
       6 . The measurement device of  claim 1 , wherein the graphical user interface includes a menu item and dialog box for installation of new applications.  
   
   
       7 . The measurement device of  claim 1 , further comprising a storage unit for loading of new applications.  
   
   
       8 . The measurement device of  claim 7 , wherein the storage unit is a floppy disk drive.  
   
   
       9 . The measurement device of  claim 7 , wherein the storage unit is a compact disk drive.  
   
   
       10 . The measurement device of  claim 1 , wherein the text file is used to create at least one user interface entry corresponding to the graphical user interface.  
   
   
       11 . The measurement device of  claim 1 , wherein the measurement device is an oscilloscope.  
   
   
       12 . The measurement device of  claim 1 , wherein the application control logic comprises: 
 an install interface to install a new application using the graphical user interface;    an extension interface to extend the graphical user interface to accommodate the new application;    a launch interface to launch the new application using the extended graphical user interface; and    a control interface to allow the new application to control the measurement device through a remote control mechanism of the measurement device.    
   
   
       13 . The measurement device of  claim 12 , wherein the install interface includes a menu item.  
   
   
       14 . The measurement device of  claim 12 , wherein the install interface includes a menu item and a dialog box.  
   
   
       15 . The measurement device of  claim 12 , wherein the extension interface is configured to generate the text file.  
   
   
       16 . The measurement device of  claim 15 , wherein the text file includes a text format to allow menu items to be added throughout a menu hierarchy of the measurement device.  
   
   
       17 . The measurement device of  claim 12 , further comprising an operating system, wherein the launch interface is located in the operating system.  
   
   
       18 . The measurement device of  claim 12 , wherein the launch interface includes data structures provided by the Microsoft Visual C++ software development environment.  
   
   
       19 . The measurement device of  claim 12 , wherein the launch interface is configured to: 
 reserve a block of unique command identifiers;    create a message map entry; and    reserve space for an array of strings.    
   
   
       20 . The measurement device of  claim 19 , wherein each command identifier is a symbol with an associated numeric value.  
   
   
       21 . A method of creating a user-definable graphical user interface for a measurement device adapted to acquire and process data from an external device and display a representation of the data, the method comprising: 
 receiving textual information from an application into a user-editable text file;    reading the textual information;    specifying an object corresponding to the textual information to be added to the graphical user interface; and    specifying a location for the object in a graphical user interface hierarchy of the measurement device.    
   
   
       22 . The method of  claim 21 , further including specifying a short-cut key for which an object is underscored in the graphical user interface.  
   
   
       23 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the text file includes a data format to allow menu items to be added throughout a menu hierarchy of the measurement device.  
   
   
       24 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the object comprises a new menu item.  
   
   
       25 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the object comprises a new toolbar button.  
   
   
       26 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the object comprises a new measurement selection.  
   
   
       27 .- 33 . (canceled)