Getting Started

Vupos is relatively simple and intuitive. Here, we'll describe how to start the program and show some of its basic operations. In this document, the Courier font is used to identify text which may appear on the computer screen or in a file. Additional, helpful information may be found in the Graphical User's Interface.

Installing Vupos On Your Computer

The simplest means to install Vupos is by using the installer utility on the distribution CD or downloaded from the FTP location provided when you purchased Vupos. To start the installer from the desktop file manager, find the icon for the installer, place the cursor over that icon, then double-click the left mouse button to start the installer. The installer can also be started from the command line provided the necessary PATH to the installer is given. For example, to install Vupos from a CD on a Windows, typically you would use a command like:
D:\installer
The installer will guide you through the very short process of copying Vupos to your computer and verifying that everything necessary to run the program is available. The file install.txt contains additional instructions and any recent information you may require.

There are some circumstances in which it may be necessary to manually copy the Vupos directory from the distribution CD or FTP location to a location on your computer. As mentioned, many computer systems provide a graphical desktop file manager. Using the file manager, you'll be able to copy the Vupos directory from the distribution CD or FTP location to a location on your computer. We suggest you create and use a directory called Vupos conveniently associated with either the directory in which you store your processing software or the directory where you process your data. In this example, we'll assume you're running the Microsoft Windows operating system and create plot files in the Projects directory under My Documents. Therefore, you would copy the Vupos distribution into:
My Documents\Projects\Vupos
Of course, you could store almost anywhere on your system or even run it from the CD.

Starting Vupos

Once Vupos is installed, you can use your file manager, like the example from Windows shown here, to start the program by placing the cursor is over Vupos icon, then double-clicking the left mouse button to start the program.

Started in this way, Vupos will begin with an empty display like that shown below. From here, you can either open a plot file using the option in the File menu or launching the help tool using the Help menu. These and the other Vupos controls are described in detail elsewhere; however, synopses for some controls are given below.

Alternately, Starting Vupos from the command line contains detailed instructions for starting the program in this way. Those instructions may be useful if you'd like to create a customized batch file or script to facilitate starting the program. Finally, most operating systems provide a means by which you can create a shortcut (icon on your desktop or keystrokes) to facilitate starting any program including Vupos. We recommend consulting your operating system's help documentation if you wish to create a shortcut.

Mouseless Operation

It's possible to traverse from control to control without using the mouse via the Tab and Shift-Tab keys. The control is then activated using the Space bar. Once displayed, menus are traversed using the arrow keys. In addition, frequently used controls can be activated with special keystroke combinations. If a control can be activated in this way, the keystroke combination is given in reminders from the GUI. A few frequently used shortcut keys are summarized here.

Ctrl-O   Show the dialog to open a new plot file.
Ctrl-P   Show the dialog to send a copy of the plot to a printer.
Ctrl-Q   Quit the program.
F1   Launch the help tool.

Multiple Plots In One File

Plot files created by a GPos program can contain more than one related plots in a file. Examples are different signal frequencies observed simultaneously or different coordinate components of a moving platform. In this case, each plot within a file can be displayed using the subplot selection menu below the plot. More information about plot file formats can be found in the Advanced Topics section.

Zooming In On A Plot

Once Vupos is displaying a plot, it is possible to view pieces of that plot in more detail. The most common way to view a detail is to zoom into a section of the plot. To do this, use the mouse to place the cursor over the plot at one corner of the region you'd like to enlarge. Then, you can hold down the left mouse button and move the mouse which appears to create a box on the plot. This box indicates the region that will be expanded. Releasing the mouse button automatically enlarges the indicated region. This process can be repeated to zoom in further. You can zoom out using the control buttons below and left of the plot: to autoscaled the plot and to zoom out one step at a time.

Displaying Data Subsets

A second option is to display only some subset of the data uses the selection control on the left. If Vupos can divide the plot's data meaningfully, it does so creating a table with check boxes controlling the display of each subset. In addition, there are two “convenience” buttons above the table that allow the user to disable and enable displaying all data subsets.

Listing The Data


A third option is to display the data as a text list. The list, which appears in a separate window, is made visible using the button at the lower-left of the main Vupos window. The list allows you to scroll through each data subset while indicating on the plot where the points are located. Points which are missing, either because the data were never recorded or the points were flagged for omission outside the Vupos program, are represented by dashes in place of a numeric value. The list has other capabilities which are described in the GUI.

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