BenchVue 3.0 now available – ask the BenchVue team anything

[Dubbie]

I think I'd rather write my own half baked tool in python than ever reward Keysight by paying for such poorly made software.

[diyaudio]

Question -> Is using a VNC on a PC to remote into the local PC using BenchVue a common use case or it is occasional ? Any reason for not just installing BenchVue on the remote PC and connecting directly to the instruments ( besides lag ).
Sid

Sid,

I hate to tell you this, but BV is so resource intensive that it virtually requires a dedicated PC.  I use the BV app to view remotely, but I can fully understand the desire to use VNC to view on a dedicated PC. 

I realize that you're probably too far down the line to change development platforms, but .NET and the ginormous libraries you're now beholden to are a problem.

BV uses WPF, WPF is slow on old PC's (I mean dog slow) if you using a PC with low memory or GPU resources its time to upgrade don't blame the software. I used WPF in the past, I know of its short comings as well as its strengths, WPF is the only rendering engine that understands how to scale on larger screens similar to that of vector graphics compared to stretching a png file. (this is very important when working in on large screens in the lab or the education environment) where the buttons/fonts have to scale correctly.

I have an old PC I use for misc stuff its running an windows 8.1 with old generation  i5 3.0GHz with 16GB with of memory,  BV is running fine.

[BenchVue Team]

Sid,

I hate to tell you this, but BV is so resource intensive that it virtually requires a dedicated PC.   

That is what I do !
I have a Win 7 Lenovo Laptop that is designated only for BenchVue because otherwise the PC is so much limited.

And don't even try to have Keithley software running on the same laptop, it messes up the Keysight and Keithley libraries.
So, one PC just for BV seems to be the solution.
But not everyone can or will afford this.

Fun with VISA...

You can have TekVISA (used with Keithley instruments) and Keysight VISA running on the same PC. Use Connection Expert's "VISA Conflict Manager" to select which VISA you want to enable. TekVISA, like R&S VISA, does not overwrite visa32.dll; it installs separately. NI in contrast, renames Keysight's visa32.dll to "Agilent Technologies - Keysight Technologies visa32.dll" and then puts its own in the Windows\SysWOW64\ folder. Connection Expert uses agvisa32.dll (Keysight's VISA), but BenchVue uses the active - "primary" - one, which can be one of the others. If they're not working right, that can be a source of angst for BenchVue. BTW, when removing NI VISA, the NI uninstaller does not restore the renamed Keysight VISA back to visa32.dll, which breaks any apps that use visa32.dll, such as BenchVue. You have to "Modify" Keysight VISA, making it primary, in that case.

Brian
BenchVue Support

[Sid.BenchVueTeam]

Hi Messtechniker,
What PC configuration are you experiencing this issue on ? The team is trying to recreate it and so far haven't been able to ( still making way through various combinations )
Sid

Thanks. I just filed a defect for the team to recreate and debug this.

 By the way BV is the only program which does not like to work with VNC (or the other way round). All others except those using video overlays work fine albeit be bit slower.

Yours Messtechniker

[Messtechniker]

Hi Sid,

thanks for looking in to this.
I have sent a BV report via email to the support team.
Luckily today I could recreate the failed graph immediately
upon starting VNC for the first time to access BV remotely.

Both Ultra VNC 1.2.1.2 on the PC and RealVNC 3.1.0.025890 on a Samsung S4 do this.

Just found out:
Simply starting VNC hinders BV from displaying the graph. When exiting VNC the graph reappears on BV. It does not matter on which screen (main or secondary) BV is running.

For the benefit of others who might want to recreate the situation
here some data:

The situation:
Accessing via VNC the remote computer running BV stops displaying of the graph on the remote computer, resp. the graph is not displayed on the local computer running VNC. However, this does not always happen. In this case it happened immediately upon launching VNC for the first time.

Sometimes BV will continue to display the graph on the remote computer but VNC will not display the graph on the local computer running VNC.

In all cases data logging continues and is visible way of the measurement data (numbers) changing in the top section of the BV window.

Note: BV is running on the secondary screen. Next I will try the recreate the situation with BV running on the main screen.

The computer running BV (at a load of 70 to 85%)
With Profilab logging the load is only around 10%:

Operating System
Windows 7 Home Premium Service Pack 1 (build 7601)
Install Language: Deutsch (Deutschland)
System Locale: Deutsch (Deutschland)

Processor
3,40 gigahertz Intel Pentium 4
16 kilobyte primary memory cache
1024 kilobyte secondary memory cache
Hyper-threaded (2 total)

Motherboard
Board: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. EP31-DS3L
Bus Clock: 200 megahertz
BIOS: Award Software International, Inc. FC 09/16/2008

Memory Modules
3328 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory

Slot 'A0' has 2048 MB
Slot 'A1' is Empty
Slot 'A2' has 2048 MB
Slot 'A3' is Empty

Display
AMD Radeon HD 5450 [Display adapter]
Mirage Driver [Display adapter]
Hanns.G HX191 [Monitor] (19,1"vis, s/n 830GR3NA07047, Juli 2008)
PnP-Monitor (Standard) (19,1"vis, April 2007)

Commumications
Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
Connection Speed:    1 Gbps

This computer is stable since when logging the KS 34465A data with Profilab for many hours on two days and bashing it pretty often with VNC the were no failures.

Hope this helps to improve BV

Yours Messtechniker

[HighVoltage]

Fun with VISA...

You can have TekVISA (used with Keithley instruments) and Keysight VISA running on the same PC. Use Connection Expert's "VISA Conflict Manager" to select which VISA you want to enable. TekVISA, like R&S VISA, does not overwrite visa32.dll; it installs separately. NI in contrast, renames Keysight's visa32.dll to "Agilent Technologies - Keysight Technologies visa32.dll" and then puts its own in the Windows\SysWOW64\ folder. Connection Expert uses agvisa32.dll (Keysight's VISA), but BenchVue uses the active - "primary" - one, which can be one of the others. If they're not working right, that can be a source of angst for BenchVue. BTW, when removing NI VISA, the NI uninstaller does not restore the renamed Keysight VISA back to visa32.dll, which breaks any apps that use visa32.dll, such as BenchVue. You have to "Modify" Keysight VISA, making it primary, in that case.

Brian
BenchVue Support

Hello Brian,
Thanks for the feedback, this is really good advise.

This is exactly what happened to me before.
BV was running perfectly, when I installed the software for the Keithley DMM7510.
After the installation of the TekVISA, neither the Keysight BV nor the Keithley Software was running alright.
I tried to reactivate the primary VISA ("Modify" Keysight VISA, making it primary) for the Keysight software but it did not work.
Even removing the i/o libraries and reinstalling did not work.
Luckily I had a full backup, restored everything and BV worked again.

- Now I have one laptop for all the Keysight software and it runs very stable and quick.
- And other laptop just for the TekVISA and Keithley / Tektronix / NI software and it also runs perfectly stable.

May be with your above instructions, I will try to have both VISA running on the same PC.

[Sid.BenchVueTeam]

Thanks. Brian received it this morning and has the team looking into it. Thanks for all the detail as well !
Sid

Hi Sid,

thanks for looking in to this.
I have sent a BV report via email to the support team.

[Messtechniker]

Here we go again.
What's the idea behind the BV update failure shown in the enclosed pic?
(Windows firewall fully disabled, by the way).

Yours - Messtechniker

[HighVoltage]

Here we go again.
What's the idea behind the BV update failure shown in the enclosed pic?
(Windows firewall fully disabled, by the way).

Yours - Messtechniker

Do not update the main BV program through the updater, it really sucks and most of the time will not work.
At least I have not gotten it to work, even after hours of trying.
Best to completely remove BV and install it new from a separate download.

[Sid.BenchVueTeam]

Team's looking at it. This should work ...
Sid

Here we go again.
What's the idea behind the BV update failure shown in the enclosed pic?
(Windows firewall fully disabled, by the way).

Yours - Messtechniker

[Sid.BenchVueTeam]

Messtechniker,
We've tried to duplicate your setup but are unable to reproduce this problem on our test machines.

Is anyone else facing this problem as well and if so, can you post your config ?

Thanks
Sid

Hi Sid,

thanks for looking in to this.
I have sent a BV report via email to the support team.
Luckily today I could recreate the failed graph immediately
upon starting VNC for the first time to access BV remotely.

[Sid.BenchVueTeam]

Hi Folks,
The team is looking to overhaul the BenchVue scope application in the next few months. Are there any scope users here that would be interested in working with us to provide us some feedback through our development ? The level of engagement would be whatever your'e comfortable with. Ideally folks would be using the application on their PCs and giving us feedback on their experience with the new features. If there are any takers please email us at benchvue.feedback@keysight.com.

On a related topic, are there folks here that need to talk to their DUTs as part of their  test process - or is most testing on passive devices ? I'd love to hear your feedback on what your needs are regarding controlling your DUTs when you make measurements.

Thanks
Sid

[HighVoltage]

If there are any takers please email us at benchvue.feedback@keysight.com.

Thanks
Sid

Email sent

[rx8pilot]

Hi Folks,
The team is looking to overhaul the BenchVue scope application in the next few months. Are there any scope users here that would be interested in working with us to provide us some feedback through our development ? The level of engagement would be whatever your'e comfortable with. Ideally folks would be using the application on their PCs and giving us feedback on their experience with the new features. If there are any takers please email us at benchvue.feedback@keysight.com.

On a related topic, are there folks here that need to talk to their DUTs as part of their  test process - or is most testing on passive devices ? I'd love to hear your feedback on what your needs are regarding controlling your DUTs when you make measurements.

Thanks
Sid

Yes, and yes.

I am swamped today, but will try to gather my thoughts over the weekend about DUT control.

[Karel]

The team is looking to overhaul the BenchVue scope application in the next few months. Are there any scope users here that would be interested in working with us to provide us some feedback through our development ? The level of engagement would be whatever your'e comfortable with. Ideally folks would be using the application on their PCs and giving us feedback on their experience with the new features. If there are any takers please email us at benchvue.feedback@keysight.com.

Are takers using Linux welcome as well?

[Sid.BenchVueTeam]

Perfect, Thanks. Looking forward to seeing it. If you can prioritize your needs as well that would really help. generally categories for features would be

"Absolutely need it - not worth using without it"
"Nice to have but it can wait"
"This would make life a lot easier"

Sid

Hi Folks,
The team is looking to overhaul the BenchVue scope application in the next few months. Are there any scope users here that would be interested in working with us to provide us some feedback through our development ? The level of engagement would be whatever your'e comfortable with. Ideally folks would be using the application on their PCs and giving us feedback on their experience with the new features. If there are any takers please email us at benchvue.feedback@keysight.com.

On a related topic, are there folks here that need to talk to their DUTs as part of their  test process - or is most testing on passive devices ? I'd love to hear your feedback on what your needs are regarding controlling your DUTs when you make measurements.

Thanks
Sid

Yes, and yes.

I am swamped today, but will try to gather my thoughts over the weekend about DUT control.

[Sid.BenchVueTeam]

Karel,
Certainly ! We just won't have a Linux version available so getting hands on time for you would be tricky. But from a feedback perspective - definitely
Sid

The team is looking to overhaul the BenchVue scope application in the next few months. Are there any scope users here that would be interested in working with us to provide us some feedback through our development ? The level of engagement would be whatever your'e comfortable with. Ideally folks would be using the application on their PCs and giving us feedback on their experience with the new features. If there are any takers please email us at benchvue.feedback@keysight.com.

Are takers using Linux welcome as well?

[Blue_Alien]

I upgraded Benchvue today to find that I cannot use the oscilloscope app anymore without purchasing it. Now there is no way to capture scope shots on my PC over USB.

[Sid.BenchVueTeam]

Hi Blue_Alien
Sorry for the troubles with your BenchVue upgrade. You're right, when you upgrade from 3.7 to 2017 one has to pay for the applications to use it. We do still have the 3.7 version available on our website for download if you'd like it continue using it.
Sid

I upgraded Benchvue today to find that I cannot use the oscilloscope app anymore without purchasing it. Now there is no way to capture scope shots on my PC over USB.

[hendorog]

One complaint:
Does the Keysight license manager really need to show a notification (twice!) every time I plug a USB stick into my PC?
First to say it is scanning for licenses, and then again to say none were found.

How do I turn that off?

IMHO License management should not be in the users face - unless it breaks and they choose to troubleshoot it.

[Sid.BenchVueTeam]

Hi hendorog,
Thanks for posting some feedback. I'm going to forward this to our Keysight License Manager team so they are aware that this is causing an issue with our customers. The goal was to make it really easy to apply a license file towards SW by plugging in a USB stick and hence saving time. The messages you see are a side effect of that process. I can certainly appreciate your point that none of this needs to be seen by the end user.
Sid

One complaint:
Does the Keysight license manager really need to show a notification (twice!) every time I plug a USB stick into my PC?
First to say it is scanning for licenses, and then again to say none were found.

How do I turn that off?

IMHO License management should not be in the users face - unless it breaks and they choose to troubleshoot it.

[vokars]

Hello BenchVue Team,

I bought the DMM-App a few days ago. In general I like the software. But there are some minor issues and a major one: Is there really no average/count/stdev or do I am just not able find it?

[Sid.BenchVueTeam]

Hi vokars,
We currently display min, max, average, count in our datalogger if you switch to Table View ( go to the Data Logger tab and select the Table icon in the top right corner ) ... We don't however currently display standard deviation. I will add this to our list of future enhancements.

Can I ask you to email us your minor issues as well as any other feedback to benchvue.feedback@keysight.com ( this will come directly to me ). We do plan to overhaul the DMM app and would like to hear your thoughts.

Thanks
Sid

Hello BenchVue Team,

I bought the DMM-App a few days ago. In general I like the software. But there are some minor issues and a major one: Is there really no average/count/stdev or do I am just not able find it?

[bitseeker]

I second the spirit of vokar's feedback. Have general statistics generally available, not limited to just the table view.

Regarding the License Manager popping up twice, I find that irritating as well, especially since I use my laptop for more than just running BenchVue. The vast majority of the time, I'm inserting a USB stick or SD card with no license files and then get those pop-ups. Restricting such notifications for when there's a problem with license files would be better.

[vokars]

Hi vokars,
We currently display min, max, average, count in our datalogger if you switch to Table View ( go to the Data Logger tab and select the Table icon in the top right corner ) ... We don't however currently display standard deviation. I will add this to our list of future enhancements.

Can I ask you to email us your minor issues as well as any other feedback to benchvue.feedback@keysight.com ( this will come directly to me ). We do plan to overhaul the DMM app and would like to hear your thoughts.

Thanks
Sid

Hello BenchVue Team,

I bought the DMM-App a few days ago. In general I like the software. But there are some minor issues and a major one: Is there really no average/count/stdev or do I am just not able find it?

Hello Sid,

Thank you very much ! The table view is probabely the only view I did not check  . Meanwhile I also implemented StDev in Test Flow. That is really handy. I always liked the possibility in WPF to stack widgets but I never knew a good application for that. In Test Flow this stacking makes sense.

I recommend, to include the StDev also into the statistics. With Test Flow it can be done but the data visualization of the data logger is better. 1. In science StDev is as important as the measurement value itself. I assume that these customers are interesting for Keysight. 2. The DMMs usually can show that in manual mode and my 34411a does so. 3. It is probabely implemented in less than 1h especially because you have access to the efficient implementation of the device firmwares. So you can be shure not to show a different value (there are several different definitions of StDev).

Concerning the minor issues I actually was looking for the right way to communicate it and I appreciate your offer to email. I will try to collect these issues first (e.g. sometimes connection problems, or sometimes no notification when the device is switched into local mode, ...) and verify that the issues are not a problem of the person in front of the screen  .