Software Basics

To launch the program, select "Mistral" from the "Mistral Keypad Test System" group located under "Programs" when the "Start" button is pressed.

The program operates in three basic "modes", Production Test, Life Cycle Test and Edit Keypad File. Production Test is used to run "jobs" consisting of testing a number of Keypads. Life Cycle Test is used to repeatedly test a switch or switches on a single keypad, logging the results for each switch press. Edit Keypad File is what you use to create and edit Keypad Files. The mode is selected in the "File" menu.

On startup the program will display a file browser on the left side of the screen that can be used to...

• Organize Files - You can add folders by clicking on an existing folder and selecting "New Folder" from the "File" menu (edit mode only). Tip: Create a folder for each customer or product to help keep track of the Keypad Files.
• Move Files and Folders - You can move files and folders by clicking and dragging them to a different folder.
• Rename Files and Folders - Click on the file or folder name and then type in a new name.
• Get File Information - When a Keypad File is selected, the customer name and part number appear at the bottom of the screen. If you would like more information, click on the file using the right mouse button and select "Get Info..." from the pop-up menu.
• Open a Keypad File - Double click on a file to open it for testing or editing.
• Open other files - Double click on a file that is not a Keypad File and it will be opened using the appropriate program.
• Delete a file - Delete a file by right clicking on the file and selecting "Delete" from the pop-up menu.

Note that some of the above features require that the operator is allowed to edit files. See Mistral Options below.

Mistral Options

Select "Mistral Options..." from the "File" menu to open the Mistral Options window. Note this menu item will not be available if there is an edit mode password and it was not entered when the program was launched or you are in the middle of running a test.

The Mistral Options window is organized on four "tabs". Click on the name of the tab at the top of the window to move to that tab.

Company This tab contains your company information and the edit password. Your Company Name Enter your company name here. This will appear at the top of all test logs and can be included on labels. Your Company Logo Select a logo for use on labels here. The currently selected logo is displayed on the left. Click "Browse..." to select a new file or "No Picture" if you do not want to have a logo file. Logos can be JPEG (.jpg), GIF (.gif) or bitmap (.bmp) files. They will not be scaled on the label so use an image of the appropriate size. When printing a label the program will first look for the file in the location you specified. If the file is not found, a copy of the original file selected will be used. Password Protection For Edit Mode If this field is not blank, you will be required to enter a password the next time the program is launched in order to be able to edit keypad files, create new files, delete, move or rename files in the file browser or view the Mistral Options window. Use this password to restrict the operator to testing only. You must exit the program and relaunch it without entering the edit password for the restrictions to take effect. Tip: You can also password protect individual files. See Edit Info window for more information. The status bar at the bottom of the main screen indicates if editing is allowed. Editing allowed. No editing allowed.

File Locations This tab contains locations for various files used by Mistral and options for how Job Logs are saved. Default Keypad Files Folder This area shows the "root" folder for the file browser on the left side of the screen. Click the "Change..." button to select a different folder. You can use this feature to fill the file browser with Keypad Files stored on a common server. Label Layouts Folder This is where the Mistral program looks for and saves Label Layout files. You don't need to deal with these files directly; they will be created and deleted automatically as you work with Label Layouts. If you would like to store your layout files on a common server though, you can change the location where Mistral looks for layout files by clicking the "Change..." button. Temporary File Folder This is the location where temporary files will be stored while testing. Since these files can be quite large, choose a location with at least 20 Megabytes of disk space available. All temporary files are deleted when you exit the Mistral program. Saving Job Logs This area contains options for how the Job Logs are saved when a job is complete. Selecting the first option allows the operator to choose where to save the logs and what format to save them in after each job is complete. If "Automatically save Job Log after a job" is selected the operator will not be prompted to save the Job Logs. They will be saved in the format and location specified here. You can choose the format of the logs by clicking "Select Log Format..." and the location by clicking "Change...". See Finishing The Job And Logging The Results for information on log formats. When log files are saved automatically, the file name will be based on the Job Number (entered in the Job Info window when a job is started), the keypad's Part Number (set in the Edit Info window for the file) or the Keypad File's name. Existing files will not be overwritten. If necessary, a number will be added to the file name to make it unique.

Automation The Mistral can accept input from external sources and provide feedback using a digital I/O card installed in the computer. This tab is used to set how automation is performed during testing. To find out more see Automation.

Labeling This tab contains information for labeling keypads while testing. Print a label for failed keypads If this box is checked, a label will be printed for keypads that fail during testing. Labels are always printed for keypads that pass. Label Layouts The list box at left will show all the Label Layouts found in the directory specified on the File Locations tab. To create a new file click "New". To delete a file, select the file from the list and click "Delete". To edit an existing file, select the file from the list and click "Edit". For information on designing a Label Layout see Labels.

Connection Status Indicator

The status of the connection between the computer and pod is indicated in the lower left corner of the main screen.

	Pod and computer are connected.
	Computer could not connect to the pod.

By placing the mouse pointer over the connection indicator you can get detailed information about the pod version and number of test points.

If the unconnected symbol is displayed you can click on it to get the computer to try to connect to the pod.

Sound

By default the pod will beep to indicate key presses, LED illumination and whether a Keypad is good or bad. You can toggle the pod sound on or off by selecting "Pod" from "Sound" in the "File" menu or by clicking on the sound symbol in the status bar.

If your computer has a sound card and it is configured correctly, you can have the computer play sounds in addition to or instead of the pod sounds. You toggle the computer sound on or off by selecting "Computer" from "Sound" in the "File" menu or by clicking on the sound symbol in the status bar with the right mouse button. This menu item is not available if the program could not detect a valid sound card configuration.

You can change the sounds played when a good or bad Keypad is detected by placing WAV files name "good.wav" or "bad.wav" respectively in the "Sounds" folder located where the program is installed.

The status bar at the bottom of the main screen indicates if sound is turned on or off.

	Pod and/or computer sound is on.
	Pod and computer sound are off.

By placing the mouse pointer over the sound indicator you can see which sound source is enabled.

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