Last-Minute Changes

The following important changes have been made to SigmaScan after the 
printed documentation went to press.  Please read these topics for 
information on new features and changes.  This information is also 
available in the SigmaScan Help system.  Choose the Help Menu Index command,
and select Last-Minute Changes.


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CHANGES IN VERSION 1.00  (May 1993)
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COLUMN REASSIGNMENTS:

The user may quickly reassign measurements to different destination columns 
in the data worksheet.  This is accomplished using the "Shift->" and the
"<-Shift" buttons in the setup dialogs.

For example: if Center of Mass (CM), area and perimeter are being measured 
then the following column assignments might occur,

                        CM          Area            Perimeter
                        **          ****            *********    
Initially               3            5                  6
After "Shift->"         7            9                 10

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CALIBRATION RETENTION:


There is a System-Wide Preference that when active, assigns the calibration 
file of the current active image to all images that are loaded that don't 
have their own calibration file.

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DIALOG CHANGES FOR MACRO RECORDING:

Some dialog controls that were not accessible in version 1.00.  This 
omission has now been corrected.


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KEYBOARD MOUSE CONTROLS:

This feature allows the user to control the mouse position during 
measurements and annotations, via the keyboard.  The keyboard mouse
control can either be accessed via the Preferences menu or by 
pressing Ctrl-A.

This feature is especially useful when programming and running
key stroke macros.

NOTE: Only uncalibrated units may be used at this time with this feature.

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STANDARDIZED PALETTES:

This feature can be called from Image, Standardize Palette.  This allows 
the user to assign the palette of one image to one or more other images.
All images being considered must be open (thought they may be iconized)
before the function is called.

Note that this function is often used in a "daisy-chain" fashion.  For
instance an image is captured and left open.  A second image is captured
and the palette of the first image is assigned to the second image.
The first image is then closed.  The palette of the second image may
now be used to standardize the next image ...


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CHANGES IN DATA TRANSFORMS:

When entering a data transform in the edit window of the Math Transform 
dialog, Cut, Copy, and Paste are available.  These commands are accessed 
via the keyboard only.  For transform text highlighted with the mouse, 
Ctrl-X cuts the text to the Clipboard; Ctrl-C copies the text to the 
clipboard.  If text has previously been cut or copied to the Clipboard, 
Ctrl-V pastes the text at the current cursor position.

Note that text cut or copied to the Clipboard remains there until other 
text, or an image, is cut or copied.  Thus you may use the clipboard to 
transfer text from one transform to another, or even from any Windows 
ASCII text editor to the transform edit box.

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CHANGES IN MEASUREMENT PREFERENCES:

The checkbox labeled Retain Current Calibrations for New Images has not 
yet been implemented.

An edit box labeled Axis Measurement Sampling Frequency has been added.  
Measurement of any Major Axis or Minor Axis quantity requires that SigmaScan 
sample all of the edge pixels of each object, in order to determine where 
to draw these axes.  The time needed for this sampling increases as the 
square of the number of edge pixels.  For measurement of large, complex 
objects on slower computers this sampling may take a very long time.  This 
option allows the user to set a sampling rate so that only every nth edge 
pixel is sampled.  The sampling frequence n may be set from 1 (sample 
every pixel) up to 10 (sample every 10th pixel).  A setting of 7, for 
example, will speed up the sampling by about 50 times, as compared with a 
setting of 1.

This option is intelligent.  If an object has only 10 edge pixels, and the 
sampling frequency is set to 10, SigmaScan will still sample each pixel.  
However, if the object has 5000 edge pixels, only 500 will be sampled.  
This option is independent of any spatial calibration which has been 
performed; it works strictly with pixels.

In using this option, there is a tradeoff between accuracy and speed.  
The lowest setting will produce the most accurate axis measurements and 
take the longest time.  The highest setting will produce the least accurate 
axis measurements, but take the shortest time.

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CHANGES IN OPEN DATA WORKSHEET:

The Open Data Worksheet dialog contains a complete file import capability 
which is not documented in the printed manuals.  By default, SigmaScan data 
worksheet files (*.MOC) are listed.  Click on the downward pointing arrow 
on the List Files of Type box to get a list of other files which SigmaScan 
can import.  These are

	SigmaPlot/DOS (*.SP?)
	ASCII (*.TXT, *.PRN, *.DAT, *.ASC)
	Comma Delimited (*.CSV)
	DIF (*.DIF)
	Lotus 123 (*.WK?)
	Quattro (*.WKQ)
	dBase (*.DBF)
	Excel (*.XLS)

If you choose ASCII, and select a file, the Import ASCII Data dialog appears.  The most 
important options are under Field Format.  The choices are Fixed Columns, 
White Spaced, Tab Delimited, and Delimiter with a choice of the delimiter 
character.  SigmaScan has already analyzed the file and tried to determine 
which of these choices is appropriate.  The File Contents box shows the 
first five lines of the file, so that the user can see if SigmaScan is 
correct.  If Fixed Columns is selected, the Model box shows SigmaScan's 
determination of 
the column boundaries.  

Sometimes SigmaScan does not correctly determine the correct choice.  For 
example, if there are labels in the first few lines which are delimited 
with quotes, then columns of numbers delimited with tabs, SigmaScan may 
become confused.  Under Portion to Read, you may make changes so that 
SigmaScan will skip the label rows.  If you do this, click the Analyze 
button to reanalyze the file using the new Portion to Read settings.

If you have a number of files, each of which is formatted in the same way, 
you may set up this dialog and save the settings.  To do this, select the 
correct settings for your file, then click the list box labeled Format 
Scheme.  Type a name for your settings, then click the Add button.  The 
settings are saved under the name you typed.  You may have as many Format 
Schemes as you wish.  To select a new one, click on the downward pointing 
arrow at the right of the list box.  To remove a Format Scheme, select 
its name and click the Remove button.  When you have finished selecting 
options, click the Import button to import the file into the data 
worksheet.  If it is not imported correctly, clear the worksheet and 
try again with a different format.

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EXPORTING DATA TO SIGMAPLOT DOS:

SigmaPlot DOS cannot read SigmaScan .MOC data files.  To export data to 
SigmaPlot DOS, save thedata in ASCII, Comma Delimited, or Lotus 123 
format.  To do this, select the File menu Save Data As command.  The 
Save Data As dialog appears.  Click the downward pointing arrow under
List Files of Type and choose the format you wish to use for data export.  
Type a filename and click OK to export the data.

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