Does anyone make a DECENT timing diagram editor?
I don't need any timing analysis, just some pretty graphics to help get
some information across to some techs that do not speak English very
well, and I'm sure the data will be needed for a manual as well. The
timings are in milliseconds, not ns and my googling has led to some
pretty expensive dead ends.
Jim
Timing Diagram Editors
Started by ●February 16, 2005
Reply by ●February 16, 20052005-02-16
<jim@reallykillersystems.com> wrote:>Does anyone make a DECENT timing diagram editor? >I don't need any timing analysis, just some pretty graphics to help get >some information across to some techs that do not speak English very >well, and I'm sure the data will be needed for a manual as well. The >timings are in milliseconds, not ns and my googling has led to some >pretty expensive dead ends. Jim"Timing Diagrams" suggests to me very simple line graphics that many programs could produce. You do not say for what environment/OS, but these few would cover DOS/Windows/Unices: Visio, the built-in graphics in MS-Word, Dia, the Gimp, OpenOffice's Draw, Karbon14, Skencil, QCad, Xfig, and any low end 2D CAD program. (You can probably find old DOS CAD software for less than $10, old versions of Autosketch, TurboCad, etc.) If you do not need any "timing analysis" (whatever that means,) what are the requirement for timing diagram editor? Roberto Waltman. [ Please reply to the group, return address is invalid ]
Reply by ●February 17, 20052005-02-17
"James Beck" <jim@reallykillersystems.com> wrote...> Does anyone make a DECENT timing diagram editor? > I don't need any timing analysis, just some pretty > graphics to help get some information across to some > techs that do not speak English very well, and I'm > sure the data will be needed for a manual as well.Timing Designer from Chronology is the standard. http://www.chronology.com/index.asp As you have probably noticed, it's not cheap. But it does meet your requirement of being decent. You say you don't need timing analysis. If that is true then you can just use your favourite vector graphics editor. You don't need a timing diagram editor per se. I would use Visio. Others have made equally good suggestions. However, you are probably going to want some kind of automation, whereby you can change some numbers and the picture changes automatically. In that case Timing Designer is probably your best bet.
Reply by ●February 17, 20052005-02-17
"Matthew Kendall" <mdkendall@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:KPVQd.412284$8l.378992@pd7tw1no...> "James Beck" <jim@reallykillersystems.com> wrote... > > Does anyone make a DECENT timing diagram editor? > > I don't need any timing analysis, just some pretty > > graphics to help get some information across to some > > techs that do not speak English very well, and I'm > > sure the data will be needed for a manual as well. > > Timing Designer from Chronology is the standard. > http://www.chronology.com/index.asp > > As you have probably noticed, it's not cheap. But it does meet your > requirement of being decent. You say you don't need timing analysis. Ifthat> is true then you can just use your favourite vector graphics editor. You > don't need a timing diagram editor per se. I would use Visio. Others have > made equally good suggestions. > > However, you are probably going to want some kind of automation, wherebyyou> can change some numbers and the picture changes automatically. In thatcase> Timing Designer is probably your best bet. > >Actually, you can do some very decent timing diagrams with Excel. Are you simply talking about square waves, a la logic analyzer traces? I use data something like this, for example: 1 1 3 6 1 1 4 6 2 1 4 6 2 1 3 6 3 1 3 6 3 2 4 6 4 2 4 6 4 2 3 5 5 2 3 5 5 2 4 5 6 2 4 5 6 2 3 5 7 2 3 5 7 2 4 5 8 2 4 5 8 1 3 5 9 1 3 5 9 1 4 5 10 1 4 5 10 1 3 6 11 1 3 6 11 1 4 6 Then I specify Line Chart, X/Y, no Gridlines. I have duplicate X values in the first column to provide nice edge transitions. The first x of a pair gets the value before the transition, the second the value after. (Note: in cases where no values change, you don't need duplicate lines, but this was easier to type in on short notice...) Paste this into excel (or any spreadsheet with graphics, I imagine), select the area and graph it, and you'll see what it looks like (I don't want to html this response to show you). Then you can customize your graph how you like it. You can even put formulas in and watch it change dynamically. I even had a way to even scroll the timing waveform at one point, but that's not at my fingertips at the moment. Rufus
Reply by ●February 17, 20052005-02-17
In article <u0l711d99drpdid6iri2o3qqqscteeev5i@4ax.com>, usenet@rwaltman.net says...> <jim@reallykillersystems.com> wrote: > >Does anyone make a DECENT timing diagram editor? > >I don't need any timing analysis, just some pretty graphics to help get > >some information across to some techs that do not speak English very > >well, and I'm sure the data will be needed for a manual as well. The > >timings are in milliseconds, not ns and my googling has led to some > >pretty expensive dead ends. Jim > > "Timing Diagrams" suggests to me very simple line graphics that many > programs could produce. You do not say for what environment/OS, but > these few would cover DOS/Windows/Unices: > Visio, the built-in graphics in MS-Word, Dia, the Gimp, OpenOffice's > Draw, Karbon14, Skencil, QCad, Xfig, and any low end 2D CAD program. > (You can probably find old DOS CAD software for less than $10, old > versions of Autosketch, TurboCad, etc.) > > If you do not need any "timing analysis" (whatever that means,) what > are the requirement for timing diagram editor? > > Roberto Waltman. >It is pretty simple line drawings, BUT it has to a little more than draw lines and such. The ability to specify exact positions on a timeline is just about a must, or you spend hours doing manual editing of edges and text. It is possible, but there are easier ways to do it and time is money. The "timing analysis" part is pretty obvious if you have done a look at what commercial products are out there. Jim
Reply by ●February 17, 20052005-02-17
In article <KPVQd.412284$8l.378992@pd7tw1no>, mdkendall@hotmail.com says...> "James Beck" <jim@reallykillersystems.com> wrote... > > Does anyone make a DECENT timing diagram editor? > > I don't need any timing analysis, just some pretty > > graphics to help get some information across to some > > techs that do not speak English very well, and I'm > > sure the data will be needed for a manual as well. > > Timing Designer from Chronology is the standard. > http://www.chronology.com/index.asp > > As you have probably noticed, it's not cheap. But it does meet your > requirement of being decent. You say you don't need timing analysis. If that > is true then you can just use your favourite vector graphics editor. You > don't need a timing diagram editor per se. I would use Visio. Others have > made equally good suggestions. > > However, you are probably going to want some kind of automation, whereby you > can change some numbers and the picture changes automatically. In that case > Timing Designer is probably your best bet. > >Yes, I was looking for a little more automation that just drawing, basically, by hand. I have pretty much dug through everything that looked promising during my Google search and, just like the "Timing Designer from Chronology", I would be paying a load of cash for features I just don't need. Jim
Reply by ●February 17, 20052005-02-17
James Beck wrote:> Does anyone make a DECENT timing diagram editor? > I don't need any timing analysis, just some pretty graphics to help get > some information across to some techs that do not speak English very > well, and I'm sure the data will be needed for a manual as well. The > timings are in milliseconds, not ns and my googling has led to some > pretty expensive dead ends.I think this one has free evaluation, not sure if it's good: http://www.timingtool.com/ -- Georgi
Reply by ●February 17, 20052005-02-17
"James Beck" ...> Does anyone make a DECENT timing diagram editor? > I don't need any timing analysis, just some pretty graphics to help get > some information across to some techs that do not speak English very > well, and I'm sure the data will be needed for a manual as well. The > timings are in milliseconds, not ns and my googling has led to some > pretty expensive dead ends.I often use ASCII, fixed font: ________________________________ ___| |_______ ____ __________________________| |____________ ________________ __ ___ ____ ---<________________X__X___XXXXX____>------- 0 1 2 2 3 4 0 signal starts tri-state 1 turnon 2 transition 3 illegal / undefined 4 goes tri-state Note the upper trace (enable) changes just before the result (tri-state on and off), etc. -- Regards, Arie de Muynck
Reply by ●February 18, 20052005-02-18
On Wed, 16 Feb 2005 22:37:14 GMT, James Beck <jim@reallykillersystems.com> wrote:> >Does anyone make a DECENT timing diagram editor? >I don't need any timing analysis, just some pretty graphics to help get >some information across to some techs that do not speak English very >well, and I'm sure the data will be needed for a manual as well. The >timings are in milliseconds, not ns and my googling has led to some >pretty expensive dead ends. >Most vector drawing packages can do this. Of course spending time on editing lines is hardly productive. There are quite a few packages that has scripting support built in. Using this should allow you to fairly easily provide dynamic lines, which you can specify using a simple script. Using this approach gnuplot is a possibility. Regards Anton Erasmus
Reply by ●February 18, 20052005-02-18
On Thu, 17 Feb 2005 23:34:48 +0100, "Arie de Muynck" <send.spam.to@spammer.org> wrote:>"James Beck" ... >> Does anyone make a DECENT timing diagram editor? >> I don't need any timing analysis, just some pretty graphics to help get >> some information across to some techs that do not speak English very >> well, and I'm sure the data will be needed for a manual as well. The >> timings are in milliseconds, not ns and my googling has led to some >> pretty expensive dead ends. > > >I often use ASCII, fixed font: > > ________________________________ >___| |_______ > ____ >__________________________| |____________ > ________________ __ ___ ____ >---<________________X__X___XXXXX____>------- > >0 1 2 2 3 4 > >0 signal starts tri-state >1 turnon >2 transition >3 illegal / undefined >4 goes tri-state > >Note the upper trace (enable) changes just before the result (tri-state on >and off), etc.If one defines a nice TrueType font, then this approach can generate very nice looking diagrams. Regards Anton Erasmus
