Table of Contents

Saving and Sharing WaveForms Workspaces

Introduction

The ability to share your work is a key part of collaboration. Digilent's WaveForms has several features to support this. By saving an entire Workspace, you can save all of the Instrument configurations and any Acquisitions you have captured. Saved workspace files can be reopened later and/or shared with other users of WaveForms. A configuration of a single instrument can also be saved as a Project, imported into other workspaces, and shared with others.

Note: While all workspaces can be opened while any Digilent Test & Measurement device is connected, some instruments are not supported by some devices. Care should be taken while “porting” a workspace to a different device to ensure the proper configurations of all instruments are maintained. For more information on the capabilities of different Test & Measurement devices, see the Test and Measurement page of this wiki.

Note: This guide does not directly cover the saving and sharing of captured data (whether as text files, spreadsheets, or images). Typically these features can be found in an instrument's File menu, in the form of Export and Save Acquisition buttons.

Inventory

Overview

WaveForms Workspaces

WaveForms workspaces can be saved and opened from two places within the user interface.

First, the Welcome tab, presented when WaveForms is launched, contains a list of recently open workspaces (1) , as well as the New, Save and Save As buttons (2) described below:

  • New: Opens a fresh empty workspace, closing an open workspace after prompting the user to save.
  • Save: Saves the current workspace to the computer's filesystem.
  • Save As: Saves the current workspace to the computer's filesystem, allowing the user to change the the workspace's file name, and whether data acquisitions are included.

Second, the Workspace menu, always present in the menu bar at the top of the WaveForms window, contains the same three functions described above, as well as Quit and Open.

  • Quit: Closes the WaveForms application, after prompting the user to save an open unsaved workspace.
  • Open: Opens an existing workspace from the computer's filesystem, closing an open workspace after prompting the user to save.

A saved workspace is described by a “.dwf3work” file. With some caveats, this file is all that needs to be shared with a student, lab partner, student, or other collaborator.

Examples of other files that may need to be shared include: Audio files to be imported as waveforms, text files used in Notes views, and any exported data. A saved workspace can either include or exclude any captured data (selectable through the “File Type” dropdown).

Instrument Projects

Configurations of every instrument can be saved through that instrument's File menu. A subset of the options present in every File menu is described below:

  • New: Opens a new instance of the same instrument, either as a clone of the existing one (copying all configuration settings), or empty (all configuration settings as defaults).
  • Save Project: Saves the configuration of the instrument to a project file.
  • Open Project: Configures the instrument with settings stored in a saved project file.

Each instrument uses its own file type for saved projects. For example, Oscilloscope projects are described by a “.dwf3scope” file, and Logic Analyzer projects are described by a “.dwf3logic” file. A saved project can either include or exclude any captured data (selectable through the “File Type” dropdown).

In addition to saving and opening projects, acquired data can also be saved, then loaded into another workspace or project through instruments' file menus (Save Acquisition / Load Acquisition).

Next Steps

For more guides on how to use your Digilent Test & Measurement Device, return to the device's Resource Center, linked from the Test and Measurement page of this wiki.

For more information on WaveForms visit the WaveForms Reference Manual.

For technical support, please visit the Test and Measurement section of the Digilent Forums.