O Status;State:;Current state of the program.
O Time;Time:;Actual system time measured since midnight.
O Timer;Timer:;This item functions as a stopwatch or timer called TimerTime. It can be reset at any time by clicking on the Set item or by pressing Shift + T. It may be useful to keep track of the experiment (e.g., to monitor the time spent in a specific experiment mode).
O Comment;Comment:;Comment to the currently active series. This field can be edited. It will result in a modification of the text of the present series if a file was opened with write permission. This means that one has to enter a text to a series after it has been acquired. The new comment will be copied into all incoming new series until a new text is entered.
O Statistics;Gr_Se_Sw of Sw (Group_Series_Sweep):;Currently active group, series and sweep number within the data tree. The total number of sweeps per series is given after of.
O Measure;Measure:;Allows to measure amplitudes and durations. With this option the user can measure the displayed data by pointing and dragging the mouse
O Scan;Scan:;Allows to measure signal amplitudes by scanning the individual data points. When selected, a marker is displayed on the trace. This marker can be moved forward and backward by dragging with the mouse
O OsciWindow;Zooming - Lassoing;It is possible to set the display scaling in the Oscilloscope window  by "lasso-ing" a screen region while pressing the left mouse button. When you release the mouse button, the marked area will be set to fill the oscilloscope screen. The scaling has to be done for each trace separately.
O Wipe;Wipe:;Clears the Oscilloscope completely.
O Repaint;Repaint:;Clears the Oscilloscope first, then redraws the last displayed trace. This is useful e.g., if you had the Overlay Sweep option activated, but then decided that you only want to see the last sweep of the series.
O OverlSwp;Overl. Swp.:;Displays all sweeps of a series without erasing the screen in between sweeps. The next series, however, will erase the screen.
O OverlSer;Overl. Ser.:;Displays all incoming sweeps without erasing the screen. This allows sweeps of different series to be computed. The screen can be wiped by pressing Backspace.
O DispTraceCol;Trace Color:;Displays the color of the selected trace
O DispTrace;Trace 1..16:;Selects the trace to which the scaling setting applies. The color of the selected trace is displayed above the Trace control.
O DFilter;Dig. Filter:;Shows the currently selected bandwidth of a digital non-lagging Gaussian low-pass filter (i.e. software filter). The -3dB cutoff frequency is specified in Hertz. It must be larger than 0.01 times the sampling rate. The filter is used for display purposes only; no changes to the data are performed.
O YScale;Y-scale:;For each trace you can control the display scaling. The value of 1 corresponds to full scale of +/-10.24 V. This scaling does not affect the display of test pulses.
O YOffset;Y-offs.:;For each trace you can control the offset of the zero line. Offsets of traces may be between -1 and 1 relative to full scale of display (default = 0).
O YCenter;(><):;Clicking on the (><) button (or . on the numeric keypad) automatically centers the respective trace on the screen.
O Xmin;Start Time / End :;Section of the sweep to be shown on the screen in % (Start - End). The reset button (R) sets the full sweep length (0 to 100 %).
O Xmax;Start Time / End :;Section of the sweep to be shown on the screen in % (Start - End). The reset button (R) sets the full sweep length (0 to 100 %).
O Page;Page:;Page of display during replay of continuous data sweeps or when time axis is chosen to be less than 100%. Clicking on the right/left arrow control will display the next/previous page of the current sweep. Dragging the page number scrolls the data forward or backward; entering a page number will display that particular page. Page is highlighted whenever there is more than one page available.
O Store;Store:;Store is used to save the data that will be acquired from now on. A dialog window opens and you have to enter the name of the new data file.
O Break;Break:;Break is used to stop series acquisition or replay. The Break flag is reset, when the next target is displayed or executed. If Break is pressed during acquisition of a sweep, this particular sweep will not be completed and the data acquired for this sweep thus far will be discarded. All previous sweeps of the series will be saved
O Stop;Stop:;This button is used similarly to Break. However, during acquisition of a sweep, this particular sweep will be completed. The Stop button can also be used in Replay mode when performing a lengthy operation.
O Next;Next:;At the end of the actually acquired sweep the series is stopped and the next protocol event will be executed.
O Wait;Wait:;This button is used to pause series execution. Its command key is Ctrl + W. Series execution is resumed by a click on Resume or by Ctrl + R. Wait will become effective after completion of the currently acquired sweep. The Wait button can also be used in Replay mode when performing a lengthy operation; e.g., it allows inspecting a particular sweep, when replaying a collection of sweeps.
O Resume;Resume:;Opposite of Wait. Press Resume to continue data acquisition or replay.
E MacroRecord;Record:;Record corresponds to Start Recording of the Macro menu. To start macro recording, click on the Record button. Then, perform all desired actions (the Notebook window will print a protocol of the macro actions.) You may record up to 50 actions. To specify a parameter value, enter it as usual by dragging or keyboard entry.
E Bell;Bell:;Plays the system sound. This is useful to supply feedback when executing a macro.
E Relative;Relative Value:;This button is useful when recording macros. A change of any value will be recorded as a relative change, e.g. if you hyperpolarize the holding potential from -60 to -70 mV while recording a macro, a step of -10 mV will be recorded
E Wait;Wait:;This control is used to pause a macro execution for the given time.
E Macro1;Macro button:;user definable macro button.
E Macro2;Macro button:;user definable macro button.
E Macro3;Macro button:;user definable macro button.
E Macro4;Macro button:;user definable macro button.
E Macro5;Macro button:;user definable macro button.
E Macro6;Macro button:;user definable macro button.
E Macro7;Macro button:;user definable macro button.
E Macro8;Macro button:;user definable macro button.
E Macro9;Macro button:;user definable macro button.
E Macro10;Macro button:;user definable macro button.
E Macro11;Macro button:;user definable macro button.
E Macro12;Macro button:;user definable macro button.
E Macro13;Macro button:;user definable macro button.
E Macro14;Macro button:;user definable macro button.
E Macro15;Macro button:;user definable macro button.
E Macro16;Macro button:;user definable macro button.
E Macro17;Macro button:;user definable macro button.
E Macro18;Macro button:;user definable macro button.
E Macro19;Macro button:;user definable macro button.
E Macro20;Macro button:;user definable macro button.
E Macro21;Macro button:;user definable macro button.
E Macro22;Macro button:;user definable macro button.
E Macro23;Macro button:;user definable macro button.
E Macro24;Macro button:;user definable macro button.
E Macro25;Macro button:;user definable macro button.
E Macro26;Macro button:;user definable macro button.
E Macro27;Macro button:;user definable macro button.
E Macro28;Macro button:;user definable macro button.
E Macro29;Macro button:;user definable macro button.
E Macro30;Macro button:;user definable macro button.
E Macro31;Macro button:;user definable macro button.
E Macro32;Macro button:;user definable macro button.
E Macro33;Macro button:;user definable macro button.
E Macro34;Macro button:;user definable macro button.
E Macro35;Macro button:;user definable macro button.
E Macro36;Macro button:;user definable macro button.
E Macro37;Macro button:;user definable macro button.
E Macro38;Macro button:;user definable macro button.
E Macro39;Macro button:;user definable macro button.
B Go;Go:;Runs the selected protocol.
B Store;Store:;Store is used to save acquired data. If you start a new data file, a dialog window will open and the name of the file entered.
B Break;Break:;Break is used to immediately stop series acquisition. The Break flag is reset when the next target is displayed or executed.
B Stop;Stop:;This button is used similarly to Break. However, during acquisition of a sweep, this particular sweep will be completed.
B Next;Next:;At the end of the actually acquired sweep the series is stopped and the next protocol event will be executed.
B Wait;Wait:;This button is used to pause series execution. Its command key is Ctrl + W. Series execution is resumed by a click on Resume or by Ctrl + R. Wait will become effective after completion of the currently acquired sweep. The Wait button can also be used in Replay mode when performing a lengthy operation; e.g., it allows inspecting a particular sweep, when replaying a collection of sweeps.
B Resume;Resume:;Opposite of Wait. Press Resume to continue data acquisition.
B Load;LOAD/SAVE:;Loads or saves the pool of available protocols (*.pro file).
B Save;LOAD/SAVE:;Loads or saves the pool of available protocols (*.pro file).
B Name;;The name of the present protocol is displayed in the blue field. To edit this name, click into the field. End editing either by pressing Return or by clicking with the mouse into another area of the window.
B New;NEW:;Creates a new protocol in the pool.
B Delete;DELETE:;Removes the present protocol from the pool.
B Step;STEP:;Steps to the next line in the event list.
B ToEnd;TO END:;Runs the protocol through to its end.
B ShowEvents;Show:;Updates the event list to highlight the currently executed event during execution of a protocol.
B WriteEvents;Write:;Writes the events to the Notebook window during execution of a protocol.
B ListEvents;LIST:;Lists the present protocol in the Notebook window.
B MoveEvents;MOVE:;Moves the present protocol to another position in the protocol pool.
S Amplifier;Amplifier:;From this list one can select the patch clamp amplifier used.
S ADBoard;Digitizer Selection:;Here one can select the appropriate AD/DA-converter, if it is not automatically assigned via the amplifier selection.
S Save;SAVE:;Saves the configuration file with its current name.
S SaveAs;SAVE AS...:;Saves the configuration file under a new name.
S SetDef;Default Settings:;Sets all settings back to the original Patchmaster settings. Note that this needs a restart of Patchmaster!
S Fonts;Fonts / Button Colors / Line Colors:;Colors and text fonts for the program layout can be selected here. These are global settings for all window dialogs and they are installed upon restart of Patchmaster. The colors and fonts are stored in the configuration file (*.set), i.e., they are independent of the dialog files
S ButtonCol;Fonts / Button Colors / Line Colors:;Colors and text fonts for the program layout can be selected here. These are global settings for all window dialogs and they are installed upon restart of Patchmaster.The colors and fonts are stored in the configuration file (*.set), i.e., they are independent of the dialog files
S LineCol;Fonts / Button Colors / Line Colors:;Colors and text fonts for the program layout can be selected here. These are global settings for all window dialogs and they are installed upon restart of Patchmaster.The colors and fonts are stored in the configuration file (*.set), i.e., they are independent of the dialog files
S HomePath;Home Path:;Sets the path to the folder LookupTables, to all window dialog files *.dia as well as to the key assignment files PatchMaster.key. It is also the path where the default files DefPgf_v9.pgf, DefAnal.onl and DefProt.pro are searched automatically as long as no configuration file was saved.
S DataPath;Data File:;Sets the path to the data file (file extension *.dat)..
S ProtFile;Protocol File:;Sets the path to the protocol files (file extension *.pro)..
S PgfFile;PGF Pool File:;Sets the path to the pulse generator file (file extension *.pgf).
S MacroFile;Macro File:;Sets the path to the macro files (file extension *.mac).
S OnlineFile;Online File:;Sets the path to the Online Analysis file (file extension *.onl).
S SolFile;Solution Base:;Sets the path to the solution data base files (file extension *.sol).
S BatchPath;Batch Path:;Path for batch file control protocols, e.g., E9BatchIn and E9BatchOut (see chapter ch:controllingPM Controlling Patchmaster, page ch:controllingPM).
S TempPath;Temp. Path:;Optionally a path different from the home path can be specified for storing temporary data.
S IGainTable;I-gain Lookup:;Path to the Current Gain lookup table. another lookup table for the Current gain (see section sec:io_parameters I/O Parameters, page sec:io_parameters). Only necessary for telegraphing amplifiers.
S List;List:;Pressing this button writes all scaling and offset values for the I/O parameter in the notebook window. Use this feature for getting a quick overview on the scaling of all your AD and DA channels.
S ScaleScale;Scale:;If a parameter is read via an AD-channel, a scaling feature allows the acquired voltage to be converted into the desired variable.  You can choose between a Scaling Factor and a Lookup table.
S IGainScale;Table:;Config_ButtonTable.png If only a lookup table can be used for conversion of the sampled analog voltage to the parameter value, this button appears. This is the case, e.g. for conversion of the voltages from the telegraphing outputs of connected amplifiers to gain or bandwidth settings.
S IGainShow;Current Gain:;Gain of the current monitor input. This parameter scales the current signal sampled from the Current Monitor channel specified in the Output and Input Channel Settings. When using a telegraphing amplifier the AD-channel that samples the gain telegraph voltage has to be specified and the gain lookup table has to be chosen.
S AdcScale;;AD-Channel: If data traces from AD-channels are acquired in a pgf sequence, the voltages can be scaled to convert them to appropriate units. For scaling you can use a fixed value or lookup tables. In case you have an EPC 8 or EVA 8 amplifier connected as second amplifier then use EPC 8 Gain to scale the AD-channel that samples the Current Monitor signal of the EPC 8. The corresponding EPC 8 has to be connected via the parallel digital I/O interface and the amplifier set to local mode.
S DacScale;;DA-Channel: Free DA-output channels that can be used for stimulation during a pgf sequence can be scaled with a factor entered in the Value field.
S User1Name;User Parameter 1, 2 :;There are two parameter fields reserved for user-specific assignments. These fields act like other parameter fields with the addition that parameter name and unit can be specified (e.g., "pH" and "U"). Name and unit are also stored in the output *.pul file on the level of each sweep, so they can be changed during an experiment, if required.
S User2Name;User Parameter 1, 2 :;There are two parameter fields reserved for user-specific assignments. These fields act like other parameter fields with the addition that parameter name and unit can be specified (e.g., "pH" and "U"). Name and unit are also stored in the output *.pul file on the level of each sweep, so they can be changed during an experiment, if required.
S BandwidthShow;Bandwidth:;Recording bandwidth.
S PLPhaseShow;PL-Phase:;Phase angle of a lock-in amplifier.
S TemperatureShow;Temperature:;Temperature (from a recording device).
S CSlowShow;C-slow:;Membrane capacitance.
S RseriesShow;R-series:;Series resistance.
S LeakCompShow;Leak Comp:;Leak conductance.
S RsValueShow;Rs-value:;Series resistance compensation.
S CellPotShow;Cell Potential:;Cell potential.
S PipPressShow;Pipette Pressure:;Pressure (from an external device).
S PipResShow;Pipette Resist.:;Value of R-membrane after pressing W (this will write the value of R-membrane into Pipette Resistance.
S SealResShow;Seal Resistance:;Value of R-membrane.
S NoiseShow;RMS Noise:;Value of the RMS noise.
S SolMode;Show Solutions:;Config_ShowSolutions.png From a drop list you can choose if External and Internal solution numbers will be displayed and can be edited in the I/O Control window. In case you run an EPC with multiple headstages the option Show Amplifier Solutions allows to specify different internal solutions for each amplifier.
S SaveSet;Save Settings File:;The Configuration settings will be saved automatically on exit, thus overwriting the previous settings.
S Verify;Verify Quit:;When this option is enabled, Patchmaster will ask to save modified settings files (*.pgf, *.pro, *.onl) when you quit the program. When it is not enabled, the Configuration settings will not be saved on quit!
S AskData;Ask for Data File:;When this option is enabled, Patchmaster will ask for a data file upon startup.
S SaveBreak;Save after Break:;When this option is enabled, Patchmaster will save the data in a sweep that have been acquired when the acquisition was terminated via the Break button. With this option disabled the entire sweep will be discarded if during its acquisition the Break button was pressed.
S FreezeZero;Freeze Zero Line:;This checkbox determines the behavior of the display scaling in the Oscilloscope Window. When Freeze Zeroline is selected, the oscilloscope behaves like an oscilloscope, i.e. when the display gain is changed the zero line stays at its position. When deselected, display scaling is performed with reference to the center of the display. I.e., when Y-offs is not zero, the zero line may alter its position on the screen.
S AutoFilter;Auto Filter:;The Pulse Generator window (see Chapter Pulse Generator) provides the option to automatically set a hardware filter according to the chosen sample interval. Auto Filter enables and disables this automatic filter setting, which is only supported for the EPC 10 and EPC 9 with its built-in hardware filters.
S Bundle;Make Bundle Files:;When this option is selected, all files generated for a data set (raw data, "pgf", "pul", etc.) are combined into one file.
S SolBase;Solution Base:;sec:configuration_solution When this option is selected, you are prompted to load an existing solution data base file or create a new file.
S NameDescr;Auto Filename:;Allows an automatic filename generation. The filenames can be generated out of a set of special components.
S StartMacro;Startup Macro:;Allows entering the name of a macro that is executed after the end of program initialization (i.e. after the configuration file is loaded, the amplifier initialized and the other settings activated). E.g., allows for additional settings like the immediate activation of the second amplifier of an EPC Double at startup.
S ExpNumber;;This number can be used to identify experiments. It is automatically incremented when a new Experiment is generated with File -> New Experiment.
S SerialOut;;This control is used to open and set up the serial port communication mode. If a so-called Serial Communication has been established between the computer and another device, Patchmaster can send strings over a serial port, but it will not receive instructions.
S LockIn;;Here the Lock-In amplifier of PatchMaster can be activated.
S Photo;;This will activate stimulation of a monochromator and acquisition via a photo-multiplier or photo diode.
S Round;Round:;Round to mV will round voltages specified in the segments of a stimulation template to mV. Round to DAC: will round voltages specified in the segments of a stimulation template to the minimal digitization unit. Use this option when a higher precision than mV is needed for segment voltages.
S VCScale;VC: Stim. Scale:;Scaling factor of the stimulus signal in Voltage Clamp mode. The voltage amplitude that is set in the pgf sequence is divided by this factor before output to the DA-channel.
S CCScale;CC: Stim. Scale:;Scaling factor of the stimulus signal in Current Clamp mode. The current amplitude that is set in the pgf sequence is multiplied by this factor before to convert it to a command voltage output at the DA-channel. This factor has to be adjusted with respect to the Ext. Stim Input Scaling in Current Clamp mode of the controlled amplifier to guarantee that the current amplitudes specified in the pgf sequence are identically to those that the amplifier applies to the cell membrane.
S CurrentIn;Current In:;Assigns the input AD-channel for the current trace. This input channel is scaled by the Current Gain
S VoltageIn;Voltage In:;Assigns the input AD for the voltage trace.
S VmembOut;V-membrane Out:;Assigns the output DA-channel of the stimulus.
S TestTrig;Test Trigger Out:;Assigns the output channel of the trigger that is set at the beginning of each test pulse. The Test Trigger Out should be turned off if the digital oscilloscope of Patchmaster (Oscilloscope window) is used. Turn it on if you would like to trigger an external oscilloscope.
S TestFilt;Test Filter Factor:;The EPC 10 filter is set according to the sample interval of the built-in test pulse using this Test Filter Factor. Of course, this only is active when is Auto Filter is on. The Test Filter Factor can be turned off by setting the value to zero.
S NoteDigs;Notebook:;(range 6-24) Numbers of digits for data display in the Notebook window.
S TimeDigs;Time:;(range 8-11) Numbers of digits for the time and timer function in the Oscilloscope window. The maximal number is 11, this results in "hh:mm:ss:ms" (milliseconds).
S XGridDigs;Grid Digits X|Y:;(range 6-10) Number of digits to be shown in grid annotation of the Oscilloscope and the stimulation template preview of the Pulse Generator.
S YGridDigs;Grid Digits X|Y:;(range 6-10) Number of digits to be shown in grid annotation of the Oscilloscope and the stimulation template preview of the Pulse Generator.
S GraphdX;Graph 3D dX|dY:;(range 0.001 -- 1.000) Allows to specify the horizontal and vertical offset of subsequent sweeps to be displayed in the 3D graphing mode. You can also enter 0 for one or both. Note that the 3D-Graph feature has to be On for this option to take effect
S GraphdY;Graph 3D dX|dY:;(range 0.001 -- 1.000) Allows to specify the horizontal and vertical offset of subsequent sweeps to be displayed in the 3D graphing mode. You can also enter 0 for one or both. Note that the 3D-Graph feature has to be On for this option to take effect
S WindowScale;Window Scaling:;This feature is used to scale (change size of all controls) all windows of Patchmaster. It may be useful when there is too little space for all necessary windows on a single monitor. The new scaling only takes effect after saving the Configuration file and upon restart of Patchmaster.
S OnlineSwps;Online Sweeps | Results:;(sweeps min. 256, result min. 8)  The Online Analysis needs to allocate memory for storage of its results. The online result buffer is a 2-dimensional buffer: number of results (= number of online functions) x number of times the online analysis is executed (= number of entries on the x-axis of a full scale online analysis graph).
S OnlineResults;Online Sweeps | Results:;(sweeps min. 256, result min. 8)  The Online Analysis needs to allocate memory for storage of its results. The online result buffer is a 2-dimensional buffer: number of results (= number of online functions) x number of times the online analysis is executed (= number of entries on the x-axis of a full scale online analysis graph).
S OnlineMode;Online Mode:;Handling of Online Sweeps | Results:   - "Fixed": The number of Online Sweeps | Results given above is limited to that number. - "Extend": The number of Online Sweeps | Results will be automatically extended, if more data are acquired. - "Wrap": If the number of Online Sweeps | Results is higher than set above, the new data will be saved from the beginning of the buffer again and thus overwrite the older data.
S MaxPoints;Max. Sample Points:;Sets the maximum number of points that can be acquired in one trace (compare section Sweep Length in the Pulse Generator window
S MaxTraces;Max. Stim. Traces x Points:;Maximum number of stimulation traces and their respective number of points. This parameter is limited by the amount of available memory.
S MaxStim;Max. Stim. Traces x Points:;Maximum number of stimulation traces and their respective number of points. This parameter is limited by the amount of available memory.
S MaxFile;Max. File Size:;This feature will not limit the size of any one file written to disk, but can be used as a reminder so that no files are created that e.g., do not fit onto a zip drive. A warning is written to the Notebook if the size of the raw data file exceeds this value. Entering a very large number will - in practice - suppress any warnings.
S MinWait;Min. Wait Time:;Sets the time Patchmaster reserves to wait for the correct time to start when executing individual repeat loops such as acquisition of a series of sweeps or an Repeat loop in the Protocol Editor.
