Data collection using the LabPro and Excel

What it does and how it works:

We are providing two pieces of software:

1. An example Excel spreadsheet -  A Visual Basic (VB) macro controls the LabPro and retrieves data into the spreadsheet. The data can be graphed, analyzed etc. as normal.
2. A small communications server program - A TCP to serial convertor (TCP2Serial) which facilitates the communication between the spreadsheet macro or other networked application and the serial port where the LabPro is plugged in. TCP2Serial runs in the background on the computer where the LabPro is connected.

Also:

• You can modify the VB macro to make the LabPro control other probes or make other measurements (you will need the LabPro technical manual, available from Vernier).
• For that matter, you can modify the macro to control ANY serial port device (if you know what commands the device is expecting).
• The setup works locally or over the Internet (the LabPro can be located on the local computer or a remote computer anywhere on the Internet).

How to set this up:

1. Download the TCP2Serial source software. Versions choices include:
• C++ for Linux
• Visual Basic for Windows
• Java for Windows
• Mac TCP2Serial software is available for older Mac OS (pre- 8.1) from other sources on the Internet. A version for newer Mac OS may become available in the future.
2. Download the Excel spreadsheet. Note that Internet Explorer may attempt to execute Excel (use a right click to 'Save As').
• Sample Excel Spreadsheet.
3. Plug your LabPro into the serial port of the computer where the TCP2Serial software is running.
4. Launch the TCPSerial software on the computer where the LabPro is attached. You may need to modify some parameters for your systems serial port assignments.
5. Start the DataLogger Spreadsheet by double clicking on it. Say yes to 'Enable Macros'. Don't worry- this is no virus.
• Double clicking on the 'Start' box will retrieve data and load it into the spreadsheet.
• To point the spreadsheet to a different computer change 'localhost' in the spreadsheet box to the IP number or DNS name of the target PC (where TCP2serial is running and a LabPro is plugged in).
• The spreadsheet can be modified to draw graphs of the data, change collection parameters, analyze the data etc.
• You can test just the spreadsheet part of this package by changing 'localhost' to 'physics.ius.edu'. You should see new sawtooth voltage data from a labpro in my office come up. This will tell you if at least the spreadsheet part is working. Change back to 'localhost' to use your local LabPro.
6. Potential problems:
• The entire Excel software package has to be loaded (the standard install does not load everything).
• The Excel spreadsheet may not work if loaded into a browser other than Internet Explorer (you have to save it to disk and open it from Excel).
• Mac versions of Excel do not (thus far) have all of the necessary functions to make this work.
• TCP2Serial has to be running on the machine with the LabPro. This can be the same computer where the Excel is running but does not have to be.
• The newest version of MS Office using Visual Studio.NET has a bug which prevents the script from running. A work around is to go back to VB6. Another work around is to add the following file to the registry following these instructions. You will need the installation disks to do this.
• The  TCP2Serial software will not run under Windows XP without this ActiveX Control (unzip and move the MSCOMM32.OCX file to the C:\Windows\System32 directory).

An Example: