Main Window

Main Window

The main window is divided into four functional areas that stay visible at all times.

Menu Bar

File Menu

Items appear in this exact order in the File menu. No File menu items have keyboard shortcut accelerators.

Item		Description
New Capture		Clears all current capture data; preserves all settings, channel names, decoder configuration, attached Custom Decoders, and trigger settings
Open Capture		Opens a .active capture file
Save Capture		Saves the entire current capture to a .active file
Save Between Cursors		Saves only the data between X1 and X2 cursors to a new .active file
Open Configuration		Loads settings from a .active configuration file (same extension as captures, but smaller because it stores no waveform data). Hidden on Active Debugger.
Save Configuration		Saves all current settings to a .active configuration file. Hidden on Active Debugger.
(separator)
Export Data Between Cursors		Exports all decoded data between X1 and X2 to a CSV file
Export AI Snapshot Between Cursors		Saves the AI Snapshot for the X1-X2 range to an .aft file
Open My Decoder Library		Opens the folder where your Custom Decoder .py files live, in the system file explorer
Recent Files		Submenu listing up to 5 recently opened or saved .active files
(separator)
Exit		Closes the application (prompts to save if unsaved data exists)

View Menu

The View menu shows and hides the individual right-side panel tabs. Each item toggles one tab in the tab bar.

Item		Description
Show Inputs		Shows or hides the Inputs tab
Show Triggers		Shows or hides the Buffer & Triggers tab
Show Outputs		Shows or hides the Outputs tab (Active-Pro and Active-Pro Ultra only)
Show Decode List		Shows or hides the List tab
Show Settings		Shows or hides the Settings tab
Show Notes		Shows or hides the Notes tab
Show Source Code		Shows or hides the Source Code tab
Show Live UI		Shows or hides the Live UI tab
Show Devices		Shows or hides the Devices tab
Show Markers		Shows or hides the Markers tab

Note: Dark Mode, Light Mode, Always On Top, and Not Always On Top now live on the Setup menu (see below), not the View menu.

Below the tab toggles, the View menu also lists the common waveform commands, each with its keyboard shortcut, so they are easy to find and discoverable in the Command Palette:

Item		Shortcut		Action
Command Palette…		Ctrl+K		Opens the fuzzy command launcher (see below)
Zoom All		Ctrl+Home		Fit the entire capture on screen
Zoom Cursors		Ctrl+Shift+X		Zoom to the range between the X1 and X2 cursors
Zoom In / Zoom Out		I / O		Zoom in or out at the mouse position
Capture / Stop Capture		Space		Start or stop the capture
Display Live Data		Ctrl+L		Jump to the live edge and resume auto-scroll
Previous / Next Trigger		Ctrl+Left / Ctrl+Right		Step to the previous or next recorded trigger
Center Trigger		Ctrl+T		Center the current trigger in the window
Apply Changes		Ctrl+Enter		Reprocess the capture with current settings
Measure Mode		M		Toggle hover measurements
Add Marker		Ctrl+M		Add a marker at the mouse position
Place X1 / X2 Cursor		1 / 2		Place the X1 or X2 cursor at the mouse position

Command Palette (Ctrl+K)

Press Ctrl+K (or choose View > Command Palette…) to open a search box in the center of the window. Start typing and it fuzzy-matches every command in the menus, hit Enter to run the highlighted one, or use the arrow keys to pick from the list. It is the fastest way to reach a command without hunting through menus, and a quick way to discover what the application can do. Location-based commands (Add Marker, Place Cursor, Zoom In/Out) act at wherever the mouse was when you opened the palette.

Setup Menu

The Setup menu holds the Quick Setup shortcuts, calibration, window sizing, firmware update, and the theme and window-stacking options. It is present on all three hardware models. On the Active Debugger, the items that depend on analog inputs or firmware download are hidden: the analog Quick Setup items, both Calibration items, and Update Device Firmware. Everything else, including the Resize Screen options and the theme / Always On Top items, stays visible.

Items appear in this exact order in the menu.

Item		Description		Hidden on Active Debugger
Quick Setup - Active Debug Port		Configures Device A for Active Debug Port 2-wire mode		no
Quick Setup - All Digital Channels		Enables the logic input channels		no
Quick Setup - All Analog Channels		Enables the analog input channels		yes
Quick Setup - All Digital and Analog Channels		Enables all logic and analog inputs simultaneously		yes
Quick Setup - I2C Bus		Configures Device A for I2C decoding		no
Quick Setup - UART Bus		Configures Device A for UART decoding		no
Quick Setup - SPI Bus		Configures Device A for SPI decoding		no
(separator)
Calibrate Analog Channels		Runs the analog channel calibration procedure		yes
Show Calibration Values		Displays the stored calibration offset and gain values		yes
Resize Screen (16:9)		Resizes the window to a standard landscape (16:9) shape		no
Resize Screen (9:16)		Resizes the window to a tall portrait (9:16) shape		no
Update Device Firmware		Downloads and programs updated firmware to the connected device		yes
(separator)
Dark Mode		Switches the entire application to the dark theme		no
Light Mode		Switches the entire application to the light theme		no
Always On Top		Keeps the application window above all other windows		no
Not Always On Top		Returns the window to normal stacking order		no

Help Menu

Items appear in this order. The menu has no other entries.

Item		Description
User's Manual		Opens the online user documentation
Contact Support		Opens a support contact dialog
About		Shows the application version number and build information

Waveform Area

The waveform area takes up the center of the window. It has two sub-components.

Timeline Ruler

A horizontal ruler at the very top of the waveform area shows absolute time. The scale adjusts automatically as you zoom: it might show seconds when zoomed out and nanoseconds when zoomed in. The ruler is always aligned with the channel rows below it.

The X1 and X2 cursor markers appear as vertical lines running the full height of the waveform area. The Current Cursor (labeled C) follows the mouse as you hover over the waveform.

When the trigger system is active, a small rounded trigger status badge floats over the timeline ruler showing READY, TRIGGERED, or a countdown like Stopping in 3s. A solid red trigger cursor is drawn through the waveform at the focused trigger event, and a small red diamond with a white T marks each individual trigger sample. See Buffer & Triggers.

Channel Rows

Below the timeline ruler, each captured channel appears as a horizontal row. Each row has two parts:

• Name column (left): the channel name, and for analog channels, the voltage at the Current Cursor position
• Waveform panel (right): the actual waveform, decoded text, packet data, or Custom Decoder annotations for that channel

Which channel groups appear depends on the hardware model:

Channel Group		Active Debugger		Active-Pro		Active-Pro Ultra
Logic (D0-D7)		no		yes		yes
Analog (CH1-CH3)		no		yes		no
Analog (CH1-CH8)		no		no		yes
Active Debug Port, Device A		yes		yes		yes
Active Debug Port, Devices B, C, D		no		yes		yes
Custom Decoder annotation rows		Port A only		Ports A-D		Ports A-D

Channels are organized into collapsible groups. Click a group header row to expand or collapse all channels in that group. The group header shows a right-arrow icon when collapsed and a down-arrow icon when expanded.

Name Column

The left column on each channel row shows the channel name. Several interactions are available here:

Rename a channel: Double-click the channel name to enter edit mode. Type the new name and press Enter to confirm.

Reorder channels: Click and hold on the name column of any channel row (the tab on the left), then drag it up or down to a new position. Release to drop it in place. The order is saved in the capture file.

Delete a waveline: Press the small X near the signal name. This removes the waveline from the screen. Once deleted, a small + icon appears in that section's header.

Restore deleted wavelines: Click the + icon in the section header to restore all deleted wavelines for that group.

Collapse or expand a group: Click the group header row (the darker row that labels a channel group, such as "Device A") to collapse or expand all channels in that group.

For analog channels, the name column also shows the current signal voltage at the Current Cursor's position, updating continuously as the cursor moves.

Right-Side Panel

The right-side panel is a tabbed area docked to the right edge of the window. Tabs run vertically along its right edge; click any tab to bring that view to the front. The X button at the upper-left of each panel dismisses it back to the tab bar.

Each tab is an icon along the right edge; hovering over it shows the name listed below. Tabs appear in this fixed order from top to bottom, with the same set on every hardware model. The Outputs tab is the only one whose tab bar entry is hidden on the Active Debugger:

Tab (hover name)		Active Debugger		Active-Pro		Active-Pro Ultra
Connected Devices		yes		yes		yes
Inputs and Bus Decoders		yes (threshold only)		yes (full)		yes (full)
Buffer & Trigger		yes		yes		yes
Outputs		no		yes		yes
Decoder and Packet Data (toggled by View ▸ Show Decode List)		yes		yes		yes
Source Code Viewer		yes		yes		yes
Notes		yes		yes		yes
Markers		yes		yes		yes
Live UI		yes		yes		yes
Settings		yes		yes		yes
Utilities (calculator icon)		yes		yes		yes

The Decoder and Packet Data tab holds the decoded event list and PacketPresenter output.

The Utilities tab (the calculator icon in the tab bar) holds a set of built-in engineering tools, a programmer's calculator, CRC and base converters, an ASCII table, and more. You can al