Contents
For detailed instructions, refer to the SMI for Allegro
User Guide. Some differences between using the Allegro Desktop and an
actual Allegro are detailed below.
Buttons on the Allegro can be used by clicking on them with
the mouse or by pressing the corresponding key on the PC keyboard. For
instance, to start the Jobs menu, click on the A key shown in the Allegro
Desktop window or press the A key on the PC keyboard.
Some buttons shown in the Allegro Desktop are not
implemented in the desktop version. They are the Start button, Yellow Shift, the Shift button in the
lower left corner, and the On/Off button. The task bar showing the Windows
Start icon and other icons is also inactive.
There is one item in the File menu of the Allegro Desktop
that is not included in the SMI software on the Allegro. “Switch Interface”
changes between the two different styles of Allegro Desktop available. One
shows the entire picture of the Allegro and the other separates the display and
the keyboard so the keyboard can be displayed larger.
Allegro Desktop can use a COM port on the PC to transfer
data just like an Allegro. Select the COM port to use in the File à Settings dialog box.
If the files you want to transfer are on the same PC as the
Allegro Desktop, connect two COM ports with a null modem cable. This is the
same cable used to connect an SMI data collector to a PC. Run Transfer 7
and select a different COM port from the one the Allegro Desktop is using.
Forcing the baud rate to 115200 on both programs will speed up the transfer.
The Allegro Desktop does not have the ability to communicate
with instruments. Whenever the software would normally start communications
with an instrument, you will see the message “Instrument communications are not
allowed in the desktop versions.”