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2024-07-23

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MPLAB-Data-Visualizer-Plugin

1.3.1677

It can be difficult to troubleshoot data on an embedded target while your application is running. In the same way a debugger helps you debug your application code, MPLAB Data Visualizer helps you debug your data. With MPLAB Data Visualizer, you can see how key data points in your application change during runtime, e.g. visualize values captured by a sensor on your development board.

To install MPLAB-Data-Visualizer-Plugin, download this package and open it in IDE.

Release Notes

Release Notes for MPLAB® Data Visualizer
MPLAB Data Visualizer v1.3.1677

July 18, 2024

Overview
It can be difficult to troubleshoot data on an embedded target while your application is running. In the same way a debugger helps you debug your application code, MPLAB Data Visualizer helps you debug your data. With MPLAB Data Visualizer, you can see how key data points in your application change during runtime, e.g. visualize values captured by a sensor on your development board.

MPLAB Data Visualizer has the following features:

-Capture data streamed from a running embedded target via serial port (CDC) or the Data Gateway Interface (DGI)
-Concurrently stream data and debug target code using the MPLAB®X IDE
-Decode data fields at runtime using the Data Stream (DS) Protocol format
-Automatically load Data Stream and Dashboard configuration for the DS data stream
-Stream and modify global variables using the run-time configurable Data Visualizer Run Time (DVRT) protocol.
-Visualize the raw or decoded data in a Graph as a time series or display the data in a terminal
-Analyze plotted data using cursors to measure bandwidth, pulse width and more
-Log data to file as it is being captured, using CSV or compressed Apache Arrow format.
-Save a snapshot of plotted data as CSV or JSON
-Visualize and analyze power consumption on supported platforms
-Visualize sampled PC values while debugging on supported platforms
-Monitor data for or input data to an application using a custom dashboard
-MPLAB Data Visualizer comes as a stand-alone application and as a plug-in to MPLAB X.

System requirements
Like the MPLAB®X IDE, the MPLAB Data Visualizer is based on the NetBeans Platform. Thus it has similar runtime requirements. The minimum platforms are:

  -Windows 10 Professional
  -Ubuntu® 18.04 or similar.
  -macOS® 10.14 Mojave

For all platforms a minimum of 8 GB RAM is recommended.

The MPLAB Data Visualizer v1.3.1677 plug-in must be installed in MPLAB X version 6.15 or later for correct operation.

Hardware tool support
MPLAB Data Visualizer supports targets that stream data over a (virtual) COM port, as well as tools implementing the Data Gateway Interface (DGI) USB interface.

When using a COM port, any target or board can be supported, also user-specific boards. The DGI interface is supported by the Microchip Curiosity Nano and Xplained Pro platforms, as well as the Microchip Power Debugger and Atmel-ICE.

In order to ensure the best possible user experience, make sure that kits or tools used with the MPLAB Data Visualizer are updated to the most recent firmware version.

Documentation
Documentation is shipped with the product and can be opened from the Data Visualizer User Interface once started.

Installing
The latest version of the standalone MPLAB Data Visualizer can be downloaded from the landing page at https://microchip.com/mplab/mplab-data-visualizer. After downloading the installer, start the installation and follow the instructions in the installer.

The plugin version for MPLAB X can be installed and updated from the plugin center in MPLAB X (Tools Menu -> Plugins). This is the recommended approach. It is also possible to download a plugin bundle from the Microchip Gallery, if installing the plugin without an internet connection is required. Unzip the bundle and point to the embedded updates.xml file from the MPLAB X plugin center settings.

What's New in v1.3.1677
-When loading an ELF file in a DVRT session, the Address Size user setting will be updated if it can be detected from the ELF file
-Addressed an issue where ELF files produced by newer compiler versions could fail to load in a DVRT session
-Addressed an issue with USB serial connections not properly disconnecting when detaching the device

What's New in v1.3.1665
-Address an issue where loading a workspace file could cause dashboard widgets to not be properly configured
-What's New in v1.3.1664
-New data logging feature
-Log data to file continuously, as it is being captured
-Use CSV or compressed Feather (Apache Arrow) format
-Dashboard improvements
-Added new formatting options for numeric values and units on the label widget
-Added the option to select output widgets as the data source for input widgets to show what is being sent to the target
-Added an option for the slider widget to send its value on drag handle release instead of on value change
-Added an option to set the angular rotation for widgets

Other improvements
-The settings panel of the Data Streamer and DVRT instances are now displayed by default
-The ELF file selected for a DVRT instance is displayed in the DVRT settings panel
-The terminal input field maintains a history of sent data ('up' key recalls previous data)
-When adding GPIO plots to the graph, they are by default placed on an axis separate from other data

Notable fixed issues
-Fixed problem with listing and selecting COM ports after installing a DV plugin update
-Fixed issue with some ELF files not loading in a DVRT instance
-Fixed problems with updating the auto config search path for a Data Streamer session
-Fixed issue with plotting DVRT data where samples could be clustered instead of uniformly distributed on the time line
-Fixed crash that could occur when shutting down the DV after using a DGI connection

What's New in v1.3.1332
-Address an issue which causes problems with PIC32 project loading in MPLAB X

What's New in v1.3.1331
-Support adjusted DGI power current range for ICD5.
-Address an issue with false current peaks in DGI Power plotting

What's New in v1.3.1320
-Support for the run-time configurable Data Visualizer Run Time (DVRT) protocol for 8- and 16-bit targets.
-New DVRT data table panels for streaming variables and individually reading and updating variables.
-For DVRT, associate the session with an MPLAB project, or load an ELF file, in order to browse for variables
-Improved support for managing data sources for visualizations from the Connections and Variable Streamers panels
-Better guidance for new users when starting streaming a source without having added it to a visualization
-Support for closing any panel (apart from Connections), and reopening from the Views menu
-Support for sending hexadecimal values from the terminal when View Mode is hex
-Notifications history viewable as a drop-down list from the main toolbar

What's New in v1.3.1160
-Update plugin API in order to facilitate updates of Touch and Machine Language plugins (all platforms)
-Terminate Chromium child processes when the Data Visualizer window is closed in MPLAB (all platforms)
-Disable Chromium caching that could happen when plotting multiple data sources (all platform)

What's New in v1.3.1136
-Fix: Unable to drag widgets onto dashboard (macOS only)
-Fix: Crash when multiple plugins are installed (all platforms)

What's New in v1.3.1129
-Support for MPLAB ICE 4®
-Support for PC sampling while debugging on selected platforms

What's New in v1.3.1113
-Create a user interface for your application using custom dashboards
-Support for Data Stream Protocol auto configuration

What's New in v1.2.956
-Visualize power consumption on supported platforms
-Inspect maximum, minimum and average power consumption over time
-Open visualizer workspace files directly from the MPLAB environment (MPLAB X 5.50 required)
-A compatibility update, v1.02, was also made for the Machine Learning Plugin. v1.02 is required for -uploading data directly to machine learning partners after this update.

What's New in v1.2
-Save a snapshot of plotted signals to disk as CSV or JSON values
-Plot two-dimensional data sets in the new XY Graph panel
-Connect to Machine Learning partners using the separately installable Machine Learning plugin

What's New in v1.1
-Quick actions for plotting data or viewing data in the terminal
-Choose whether to plot Variable Streamer fields on same or separate axes
-Simplified data stream protocol configuration
-Fewer steps means its easier to start visualizing multiple variables
-Graph enhancements
  -Plot several signals on the same axis for easy alignment and zoom
  -Organize axes on different rows, resize, and position
  -Inspect values of data points
  -Use cursors to measure signal width, frequency, and duty cycle
-Notable fixed issues
  -Under heavy system load data timestamps could drift so that data plots appeared delayed compared to actual events (DV-1280).
  -Deleting a field/variable in the plot wizard before a name was assigned could crash the application (DV-1265).
  -When streaming data on serial port, data could be timestamped so that parts of plots looked stretched or compressed (DV-1186)

What's New in v1.0.681
-Compatibility fix for MPLAB X IDE v5.40

Symptoms: No kits show up in connections view and an exception is thrown at startup or on kit connection event.

Customer support
Microchip provides online support via our web site at https://www.microchip.com/support.

Special Considerations
To get the expected result when streaming data, it is important to configure the target system properly. Study the user guide of the target development board or tool carefully as it can contain important information.

When streaming timestamped data over DGI from an Xplained Pro or Curiosity Nano kit, too high data rates can lead to buffer overflows and reduced stability of operation. This also applies to Debug GPIO and Power Data. The Data Visualizer UI will display a warning when the kit or tool indicates a buffer overflow condition. The sample rate at which buffer overflows are likely to occur dependens on the PC and the system load. For GPIO it could be down to a few kHz sample rate at system load. For other interfaces it is typically higher.

The standalone MPLAB Data Visualizer may interrupt an active debug session on a development kit on start up. If a debug session is in progress in MPLAB X on a DGI-enabled kit when MPLAB Data Visualizer standalone is started, the debug session may be interrupted and the kit might not show up as a connection in the standalone version. The workaround is to close MPLAB X and unplug and plug in the kit. For simultaneous debugging and data visualization, please use the MPLAB X plugin version of MPLAB Data Visualizer (Window menu > Debugging > Data Visualizer).

If DGI-enabled kits or tools are not detected at all, the following procedure can be tried in order to force a reinstall of the DGI device on a Windows system.

  -Unplug all kits from the Windows machine
  -Right-click the Start button and select 'Device Manager'
  -Select the View menu and turn on Show Hidden Devices
  -Expand the node "Microchip Tools" which lists Data Gateway (DGI) capable devices
  -Right-click the entry for the device you want to uninstall, go to properties, Driver tab and click on Uninstall
  -On the Confirm Device Removal dialog box, if you wish to remove the driver package in addition to uninstalling the device, select the Delete the driver software for this device option
  -When ready to complete the operation, select OK

Reference: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/install/using-device-manager-to-uninstall-devices-and-driver-packages

Known Issues
SSR Description Environment
DV-806 Plotted data can look distorted at certain zoom levels. This happens because the Visualizer reduces the resolution of old data as internal buffers fill up, in order to save memory. Workaround: Pause data streaming while investigating data.
All platforms

DV-835 Cannot connect to ttyACM0 for streaming data. Workaround: add your user to the dialout group and log out, then log back in.
Linux

DV-1085 Kit DGI sources will not be listed if the kit is already connected in another process. Workaround: Close the other application and restart MPLAB X or MPLAB Data Visualizer.
macOS, Windows

DV-1089 When renaming a variable streamer field and the field is plotted, the plot source is disconnected. Reconnect the plot source by selecting the new name in the plot options.
All platforms

DV-1176 Interface configuration is not applied after DGI overflow. To ensure correct operation after overflow, reconnect DGI.
All platforms

DV-1335 In the plugin, when the Data Visualizer tab is maximized it will cover floating windows. A workaround is to dock the floating window.
Win 10
MPLAB X 5.40

DV-1652 The calculated average values and the total charge and energy values displayed in the power analysis panel in the graph are based on data points displayed, and can vary slightly depending on the zoom level. Zooming in will give better accuracy as more data points are used for the calculations.
All platforms

DV-1670 On a loaded system, streaming on DGI can fail when the PC cannot read data from the debugger fast enough. This can apply to all interfaces including Power and GPIO. See the Special Consideration section for more info.
All platforms

DV-1671 The calibrate button on the DGI power interface panel can be clicked while calibration is in progress. Clicking it will not have any effect. The calibration will run to completion before a message is displayed.
All platforms

DV-1673 Clicking the Plot All Sources button on a DGI power source in the connections panel will add plots to axes based on unit, instead of to the selected data axis. If other arrangements are desired, add the power sources as plots manually.
All platforms

DV-1683 If a popup dialog overflows the Data Visualizer window, a scroll bar is displayed. Clicking the scroll bar will close the dialog. Use the mouse wheel or tab through the controls in order to scroll the dialog.
All platforms

DV-1711 On Linux, ending an MPLAB debug session can end a concurrent streaming session on the same tool.
Linux

DV-1864 Transparency and z-order settings are ignored when importing elements from an existing Atmel Data Visualizer dashboard. The rendering order used will be the order of the elements as specified in the imported .db file.

DV-2012 The Debugger Polling interface, used for PC sampling, can be present for debuggers and kits that support DGI, irrespective of whether a debug session is started or the currently debugged device supports the feature. However, PC sampling is supported only for SAM devices and newer AVR device families.
Data Visualizer plugin to MPLAB

Owners

Authors

MplabDvTeam Microchip

Copyright

Microchip

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Dependencies

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Version History

Version Downloads Last updated Approved
MPLAB-Data-Visual... 1.3.1665 133 Tuesday, February 27, 2024 yes
MPLAB-Data-Visual... 1.3.1664 15 Tuesday, January 30, 2024 yes
MPLAB-Data-Visual... 1.3.1331 170 Friday, May 19, 2023 yes
MPLAB-Data-Visual... 1.3.1320 471 Monday, December 19, 2022 yes
MPLAB-Data-Visual... 1.3.1160 519 Tuesday, March 15, 2022 yes
MPLAB-Data-Visual... 1.3.1136 106 Friday, January 21, 2022 yes
MPLAB-Data-Visual... 1.3.1113 267 Wednesday, October 27, 2021 yes
MPLAB-Data-Visual... 1.2.956 148 Wednesday, May 12, 2021 yes
MPLAB-Data-Visual... 1.2.835 178 Wednesday, September 23, 2020 yes
MPLAB-Data-Visual... 1.2.834 56 Monday, September 21, 2020 yes
MPLAB-Data-Visual... 1.1.793 1,220 Thursday, June 11, 2020 yes
MPLAB-Data-Visual... 1.0.675 345 Friday, December 20, 2019 yes
MPLAB-Data-Visual... 0.2.463 192 Tuesday, July 2, 2019 yes
MPLAB-Data-Visual... 0.1.438 236 Friday, May 24, 2019 yes