
Universal Serial Data Monitor 
Copyright(c)1999-2000
Version 3.2


USDM is a Windows PC based RS232/serial data protocol analysis software application 
designed for technicians, engineers, programmers, and students. Designed to display and
record high speed serial data using the PC serial port. USDM is a Windows based application
designed to run under Windows3.1, Windows95, Windows98 and Windows NT.

Requirements:
80386 or higher, RS232 Serial Port(s), Serial Cable, Windows 3.1/95/98/NT, Vbrun300.dll

Shareware: 
USDM is Shareware. The File Saving function and Dual Port operation have been disabled
in the unregistered version. However the unregistered version will function as a single 
port serial data viewer and will verify serial port and RS232 signal line operation. You
may use it for 30 days. After 30 days you must register the program or delete it. Upon 
registering USDM you will be sent an unlock code by email that will enable all features
and eliminate the registration reminders. As a registered user you are also entitled to 
three months tech support.


Installation:
With Windows File Manager or Explorer create a new directory and unzip the file USDM.zip
into the new directory. All files associated with USDM will be in this directory except 
for vbrun300.dll which should already be in your Windows system directory. USDM can now
be started by double-clicking the USDM.exe file. Alternately USDM can be started from a 
Win3.1 program manager icon or Win95/98 desktop shortcut. From the Program Manager select
"File" then "New" then "New Item" or Right click the mouse and select "Create Shortcut"
and navigate to the USDM directory and select the USDM.exe file and click "OK.
  

Installation Note:
When running the program for the first time, If you get an error message stating;
"This Program Requires Vbrun300.dll" 
Go to the USDM home page "http://www.angelfire.com/biz5/USDM" and download a copy. Or it 
can be easily found on the Web by typing in "Download Vbrun300.dll" in any search engine.
Simply unzip and copy it to the USDM directory or the Windows system directory.

Uninstallation:
Simply delete the entire directory where USDM resides and it will leave no trace.   

Features:
Customizable display colors
Screen and text colors can be customized to reduce eye strain and create a customized 
appearance. From the Controls menu select Display. Click on the colored fields to select 
screen and text colors. Click the OK button to save and enable the settings.

Resizable display
The application display can be resized to suit the user and will retain the settings, 
supports 640x480, 800x600, and 1027x768 resolutions.
 
Toolbar
A graphical toolbar with clickable icons for access to the most used functions.

Main Screen
(Top Left) Displays incoming data. Data can be copied and pasted to the clipboard.

Snap Screen 
(Top Right) Used as an online scratch pad. When the Snap icon is clicked the data in the 
main window is copied and frozen in the Snap window. This will allow the user to examine 
data without ending the monitoring session.
 
Status display
(Bottom Right) Bar graph style status indicators to monitor the Port Buffer/s (Kb), 
Data Throughput (Cps), Logfile Size (Kb), and Time Online (Hr/Mn).
     
RS232 line signal display
(Bottom) Led style indicators to monitor the RS232 signal activity of the standard 
Rts/Cts/Dsr/Dtr/Dcd/Ri control lines. When using the dual port option, RS232 signal 
detection occurs on the Com Port designated as "Port A". When analyzing a standard
DTE/DCE link "Port A" should be connected to DTE. Also displayed are Online status, 
Scheduler running and Limiter enabled. 

Automated Log file handling
USDM automatically opens and names a new log file at the beginning of each monitoring 
session. The filename is based on the start time and date. Re: A log made on 5/9/99 @ 13:00 
would be named 05091300.txt. In this way log files when viewed with Windows File Manager 
or Explorer, the last log file always appears at the bottom of the group. If more than one 
log file  is made within one minute, it will be appended (added) to the first file started 
with that filename. All log files are saved in the USDM directory.   

Log file size limiter
The user can choose to limit the size of the log file to a preset maximum as log file sizes 
may become very large in some cases. From the Controls menu select Limiter. Select or enter 
the maximum desired size of the log file. Check the enable box to enable the limiter.

Log Scheduling
USDM can be programmed to Start and Stop at specific times. From the Control menu select 
Scheduler. Select or enter the desired Start and Stop time. Check the enable box to enable 
the Scheduler. The scheduler and limiter can be used together. USDM must be running and/or 
minimized for the scheduler to work. USDM can run in the background allowing other 
applications to execute. 

Control Data Options:

Custom Control Codes
This option allows the user some control over the formatting of data as it is being written 
to the screen and the log file. This is useful in packet type communications where recurring
character/s indicate the start or stop of a packet or line. This option is not enabled for 
ASCII data since normal ASCII control codes: (carriage return),(linefeed), and (backspace) 
etc. are executed normally when encountered.

(+CR+LF or Start Chr)
Characters entered in this field, when encountered will trigger a carriage return and line 
feed before the it is displayed causing the character to always appear in the first column 
of a new line. Characters that indicate the start of a packet or line should be entered 
here. This character will also trigger a timestamp event if timestamping is enabled.

(CR+LF+ or Stop Chr)
Characters entered in this field, when encountered will trigger a carriage return and line 
feed after the it is displayed causing the character to always appear in the last column 
of the line. Characters that indicate the end of a packet or line should be entered here.

Note
Valid Control Code entries are: (0-255) Decimal or (00-FF) Hex. Any other entries will not 
trigger the event and will be ignored. If Inverse data is selected, detection occurs after 
the inversion process.

Time stamping
Timestamping if enabled is executed each time the screen cache is filled or when a 
+CR+LF (Start Chr) is recieved. This conserves CPU time and since the Screen Cache is 
adjustable the user controls time stamp activity.
 

Screen Cache
This setting controls the amount of data that is cached before writing to the screen and 
log file. As with any Windows application that displays large amounts of data, much of the 
CPU time is used to write to the screen. This option allows a predetermined amount data to 
be stored(cached) before it is saved to disk and displayed. This will allow more time to 
service the Port Buffer and process characters, resulting in higher overall throughput.
  

Polling intervals
This setting controls the frequency at which the Port Buffer is checked for incoming data. 
If data is found in the buffer it is retrieved and and stored in the screen cache to be
 logged and displayed once the screen cache is filled.
 
Note
The Screen Cache size and Polling Interval can have a pronounced effect on the performance 
of USDM. High sustained data rates may require a large cache while intermitant data will 
allow a smaller cache. Under ideal conditions the Port Buffer should stay below 1k and even 
go down to 0 kb. The default settings button should provide good overall performance.
 
Data Types
USDM captures and displays ASCII, DEC, HEX, BINARY, Inverse BINARY and Inverse HEX data.
ASCII: Displays normal ASCII text. All ANSI control codes are executed.
DEC: Displays raw decimal data. (000-255) 
HEX: Displays raw hexidecimal data. (00-FF)
BINARY: Displays raw binary data. (00000000=11111111)
Inverse BINARY: Displays raw inverse binary data. (00000000-11111111)
Inverse HEX: Displays raw inverse hexidecimal data. (00-FF)

Note
Inverse data is data that is reversed: (LSB first and MSB last) and inverted (1=0, 0=1). 
This type of data is used by many microcontrollers and non-PC type devices. Although the 
data is processed in the same way at the serial port, it is displayed and logged as
inverse data.

Port Settings
USDM supports all standard port settings plus all standard and non-standard baud rates 
from 110 to 115200 baud allowing the user maximum flexibility.

Valid selections

Porta: Com1-Com4  
IRQA: IRQ3-IRQ10
Portb: Com1-Com4
IRQB: IRQ3-IRQ10
Baud: 150-115200 baud
Databits: 5-6-7-8
Parity: None-Even-Odd-Mark-Space
Stopbits: 1 or 2

From the Pulldown Menu or Toolbar select Port Settings. Then use the Scroll buttons to 
select the Comport settings. Then click the Ok button to save the settings and exit, or 
select Cancel to exit without changing settings.

Notes: 
USDM was designed for experienced communications developers.
The user must ensure the port or ports opened by USDM are not already in use. When using 
two ports together it may be necessary to assign non standard IRQ lines to one or both ports. 
Example: On a standard IBM PC or compatible Com1 & Com3 use IRQ4 and Com2 & Com4 use IRQ3.
In order to use Com1 and Com3 or Com2 and Com4 together the user must assign a different 
IRQ to one of the ports. The user must ensure that the IRQ assigned to the port is not being
used by another device. Also USDM expects the port hardware to generate the correct IRQ.
Consult your serial card manual for instructions on how to change IRQ's.
 
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