Settings and Preferences

Settings and Preferences

Settings are spread across several tabs in the right-side panel. Some settings are stored in the .active capture file and travel with the capture; others are stored in application settings and persist between sessions regardless of what file is open.

Settings Tab

The Settings tab holds the working directory, the My Decoder Library Folder configuration, Python interpreter selection, the per-channel Analog Channel Settings (offset / scale / units, the current-measuring resistor, and the battery capacity), the user name, and display preferences (zoom speed, zoom animation, intensity, color mode, gridlines).

Note: The per-port BUS DECODERS drop-downs, the decoder settings baud field, the Custom Decoder gear/pencil icons, and the PacketPresenter Edit Packet Format buttons described in the next few sections are on the Inputs tab, not the Settings tab.

BUS DECODERS Drop-downs

Each Active Debug Port has its own BUS DECODERS drop-down (this is the on-screen label):

Active Debugger: one BUS DECODERS drop-down (port A). Active-Pro and Active-Pro Ultra: a BUS DECODERS drop-down for each of the four ports. The A/B/C/D port letters are printed on the pod above each port's digital channels, not in the software.

Each dropdown groups its entries into three sections: Real-Time Hardware Decode, Real-Time Software Decode, and Post-Capture Python Decode (Custom Decoders). Select the appropriate decoder mode for the protocol running on each port. The waveform area updates immediately when you change a mode. See Decoding for the complete list of available modes and Custom Decoders for the Python decoder system.

Decoder Settings Field

Some decoder modes have a configuration value. A text field appears next to the mode selector when one is needed:

Protocol		Setting		Notes
UART (all variants)		Baud rate in bps		Set to 0 for auto-detection
ACTIVE 1-Wire / EE101 1-Wire / SWV		Baud rate in bps		Defaults: 115200 (ACTIVE) / 9600 (EE101)
LIN		Bits/sec		Default 20000

For UART, the Auto-Detect button appears next to the baud rate field. Click it after capturing some data to measure the baud rate automatically from the signal.

Gear (Parameters) and Pencil (Edit Script) Icons

When a port has a Custom Decoder attached, two icons appear next to its decoder dropdown:

• Gear - opens the per-decoder parameter dialog. Each PARAM: line in the script header becomes one row (select / int / float / bool / string / digital_channel / analog_channel). Disabled if the script declares no parameters.
• Pencil - opens the in-application script editor with line numbers, Python syntax highlighting, monospace font, and 4-space tab stops. Always available while a Custom Decoder is attached. Use This Decoder applies your edits to the port for the current capture without writing a file; Save to My Decoder Library writes your edits to a file in the My Decoder Library folder and attaches it (editing a built-in saves a copy, so the built-in is never modified); Help opens the manual; Cancel discards.

See Custom Decoders for the full details of the parameter system, editor, and channel auto-enable behavior.

PacketPresenter Controls

PacketPresenter is auto-enabled per port based on the selected decoder mode (no user-facing checkbox). When PP is enabled for a port, an Edit Packet Format button appears next to that port. Clicking it opens the PacketPresenter Editor dialog with Save and Cancel buttons.

See PacketPresenter for full documentation.

Capture File Settings

These settings apply to all models and control how capture data is stored.

Working Directory: The folder where capture data is written during capture. Click the ... button to browse for a different folder. Choose a fast local drive for large captures.

Each running instance stores capture data in its own per-pod subdirectory of the working directory, so multiple instances do not collide. The Custom Decoder folder (<working directory>/decoders by default) is at the bare working directory and is shared across all running pods.

Analog Sample Rate (the SampleRateAnalog drop-down on the Inputs tab): sets the analog channel sample rate. Digital channel sample rate is fixed at the hardware maximum for each model.

The drop-down shows all 11 entries on every model: 50M sps · 20M sps · 10M sps · 5M sps · 2M sps · 1M sps · 100K sps · 10K sps · 1K sps · 100 sps · 10 sps

Effective hardware maximum: Active-Pro = 1 Msps, Active-Pro Ultra = up to 50 Msps (auto-degraded by enabled-channel count).

Note: The Buffer Size that used to live on the Settings tab is now in the Buffer & Triggers tab's BUFFER section, alongside the trigger configuration. See Buffer & Triggers.

My Decoder Library Folder

The My Decoder Library Folder row in the Settings tab controls where the application keeps your Custom Decoder .py files. There are two kinds of decoder and the picker lists both: built-in decoders ship inside the application (read-only, updated automatically when you install a new build) and are not stored in this folder, while My Decoder Library (the ones you make) live here. The application scans both, parses the DECODER_MYNAME and PARAM: lines at the top of each file, and uses that to populate the picker.

Control		Behavior
Follow working directory checkbox		Default ON. The My Decoder Library folder tracks the working directory as <working directory>/decoders.
Decoder folder path field		Only editable when "Follow working directory" is off. Click Browse to pick any folder on disk.
Reset button		Restores "Follow working directory" and clears the custom path.

The My Decoder Library folder is per-user (stored in your OS-level application settings) and shared across all four pods. Open it in your system file explorer — to see and manage your decoder files — in any of these ways: the Open My Decoder Library button on this Settings row, File → Open My Decoder Library, the Open My Decoder Library button in the picker, or the folder-path link in the picker banner. (This setting does not affect the built-in decoders, which always come from the application.)

The application never overwrites anything in your My Decoder Library folder. Built-in decoders and the active_pro runtime are served read-only from inside the application and refresh only when you install a new build — there is no copying into your folder and no version drift. Your own decoders are left completely untouched on every launch. To customize a built-in, attach it, then edit it with the pencil and click Save to My Decoder Library — that writes an editable copy here under a name you choose (the built-in is never modified).

See Custom Decoders for the full reference.

Python Interpreter

The Python Interpreter group selects which Python is used to run Custom Decoders. Two radio buttons:

• Bundled (default), uses the embedded Python interpreter that ships with the application (python_runtime\win64\python.exe on Windows). No separate Python install is required.
• Custom - uses an interpreter at a path you provide. Click the Browse button to pick python.exe. The application runs python --version on the path and shows the result next to Detected version: so you can verify the binary works.

The application falls back to bundled if your custom path is empty or no longer exists. Restarting is not required after switching interpreters, the next decoder run uses the new setting.

The active_pro runtime module (which provides wait_for, wait_time, append, all condition factories, etc.) is on the Python path whether you use bundled or custom Python, the application adds its own python_runtime folder to PYTHONPATH for the duration of the run, and adds the decoder folder as the working directory so import my_helpers from inside a decoder picks up my_helpers.py sitting next to it.

Use Custom when your decoder imports a third-party package not bundled with the application.

Display Preferences

Zoom Speed slider: Controls how sensitive the mouse scroll wheel is for zooming. Drag toward the fast end if the default zoom steps feel too small.

Zoom Animation Speed slider: Controls how fast the zoom animation plays. Set it to maximum if the animation feels sluggish; set it lower if you prefer a more visual transition.

Intensity slider (Min ↔ Max): Fades the waveform display toward the background. At Max colors are at full strength; at Min the display fades away entirely.

Color Mode slider (Plain ↔ Color): Fades the display from full per-channel color toward monochrome. At Color the display uses each port's full colors; at Plain it is monochrome. Intermediate positions give a softened color display.

Gridlines slider (Min ↔ Max): Controls how strongly the grid lines are drawn. At Min they disappear; at Max they are drawn at full contrast.

User Name: Your name, entered in the Your Name field in the Settings tab and stored in application settings. This is purely informational. (The application title bar shows the model name, pod number, and the open file path, not your name.)

Inputs Tab

The Inputs tab controls which input channels are enabled for capture.

Logic Channel Enable Buttons (Active-Pro and Active-Pro Ultra)

Available on: Active-Pro · Active-Pro Ultra

Eight buttons labeled D0 through D7 toggle each logic channel on and off. Disabled channels are not captured and do not appear in the waveform area. Disable channels you are not using to reduce capture file growth and maximize capture performance.

Custom Decoders with digital_channel PARAMs automatically force their named channels ON when you save the parameter dialog or attach the decoder.

Analog Channel Controls (Active-Pro and Active-Pro Ultra)

Available on: Active-Pro · Active-Pro Ultra

Controls for enabling analog channels live in the Inputs tab. Select the analog input range (0V to +20V, or +10V to -10V) and the analog sample rate (10 sps to 50M sps). The differential-pair toggle buttons (CH3+/4- on Active-Pro; CH1+/2- and CH3+/4- on Active-Pro Ultra) are also on the Inputs tab. The per-channel offset, scale, and units, the Current Measuring Resistor field, and the Battery Capacity field are in the Settings tab's Analog Channel Settings section (there is no separate pop-up dialog). See Channels and Signals for full detail.

Logic Threshold Presets (Active-Pro and Active-Pro Ultra)

Five preset buttons (1.0V, 1.8V, 2.5V, 3.3V, 5.0V) snap the digital input threshold voltage to the appropriate level for each common logic family. The threshold is FPGA-applied and affects all 8 logic channels at once.

Logic Threshold (Active Debugger)

Active Debugger only

The Inputs tab on the Active Debugger shows a threshold level control for the single debug port input. Adjust this to match your target's logic voltage level.

Buffer & Triggers Tab

The Buffer & Triggers tab configures the trigger system and the capture buffer size. It is divided into five sections:

1. MODE - Off / Normal / Auto.
2. BUFFER - Buffer Size drop-down (1 MB through 1 TB).
3. TRIGGER SOURCE - Source / Channel / Condition / Threshold / Width / Text controls (only some visible at once depending on the source).
4. PRE-TRIGGER - Keep everything / Keep last N seconds.
5. POST-TRIGGER - Fill buffer, then stop / Stop after N seconds / Stop after N triggers.

All settings take effect immediately, including mid-capture. Once a trigger has fired in the current capture, the pre-trigger window is locked in for the current capture; further changes to pre-trigger settings affect only the next capture.

The full reference, including practical examples (catching a crash, detecting a glitch, finding a specific log message, isolating a short pulse, batching N events, triggering on a PP graphed value), is in Buffer & Triggers.

Outputs Tab

Available on: Active-Pro · Active-Pro Ultra (not present on Active Debugger)

The Outputs tab controls the hardware output pins on the connected device. Changes take effect immediately, set a digital output to 3.3 V and the pin goes high right now.

Digital Outputs (D0 and D1)

Each digital output pin has four mode buttons:

Mode		Description
Tristate		Pin is not driven, high impedance. Safe default.
0V		Pin is driven to logic low (0 V)
3.3V		Pin is driven to logic high (3.3 V)
PWM		Pin outputs a square wave at 250 kHz (Active-Pro) or 390 kHz (Active-Pro Ultra). A duty cycle control (slider or spin box) sets the on-time percentage from 0% to 100%.

Output drive capability: 8 mA max per pin.

Analog Outputs (A0 and A1)

A0 can be set to:

Mode		Description
Tristate		Not driven (high impedance)
0 V		Fixed DC output at 0 V
1 V		Fixed DC at 1 V
2 V		Fixed DC at 2 V
3 V		Fixed DC at 3 V
3.3 V		Fixed DC at 3.3 V
DC		Custom DC voltage, set with the voltage spin box

A1 supports all of the above A0 modes, plus four waveform output modes:

Mode		Description
Ramp		Linear ramp waveform, sweeping from minimum to maximum voltage
Sine		Sinusoidal waveform
Square		Square wave (50% duty cycle)
Triangle		Triangular waveform

For waveform modes, set the minimum and maximum output voltage with the spin boxes labeled A1 Min and A1 Max. The output range is 0 V to 3.3 V.

Waveform frequency range:

• Active-Pro: 62.5 Hz to 25 kHz
• Active-Pro Ultra: 62.5 Hz to 7.25 kHz

Frequency is adjusted via the Steps control (number of steps per waveform cycle). Each step is 4 µsec.

Tip for testing power supply response: Set A0 to a DC level matching your circuit's supply voltage, then switch it to 0 V and watch the analog input channels on the same timeline to measure your power supply's response time.

Tip for ADC testing: Drive A1 with a ramp waveform and connect it to your target's ADC input while monitoring the ADC readings via the Active Debug Port. This gives you a complete ADC transfer function with one capture.

All output settings can also be controlled via the Automation API, see Automation API.

Notes Tab

The Notes tab contains two areas that serve different purposes.

Notes Editor

A full-featured rich text editor for freeform notes about the capture. Write anything here, your observations, hypotheses, findings, links to related tickets, steps to reproduce, screenshot descriptions.

Supported text formatting:

• Bold, italic, underline, strikethrough
• Heading styles (H1-H4) and monospace paragraph style
• Ordered (numbered) lists and unordered (bullet) lists
• Indentation (increase and decrease)
• Font size selector
• Text foreground color and background highlight color
• Insert image
• HTML source view, edit the underlying HTML directly
• Remove character formatting (toolbar button, no keyboard shortcut)
• Remove all formatting (toolbar button, no keyboard shortcut)

Keyboard shortcuts in the notes editor:

Key		Action
Ctrl+Z		Undo
Ctrl+Y		Redo
Ctrl+X		Cut
Ctrl+C		Copy
Ctrl+V		Paste
Ctrl+B		Bold
Ctrl+I		Italic
Ctrl+U		Underline
Ctrl+-		Insert bullet list
Ctrl+=		Insert ordered (numbered) list
Ctrl+,		Decrease indentation
Ctrl+.		Increase indentation

The notes are saved in the .active capture file as rich text HTML and restored when you open the file.

Analysis Context Field

Below the notes editor is a plain text field labeled ANALYSIS CONTEXT. Text entered here appears verbatim at the top of every AI Snapshot exported from this capture file, before any data rows.

Write a briefing here: what the firmware is doing, what problem you are investigating, what question you want the AI to answer. If left empty, the [ANALYSIS CONTEXT] section is omitted from AI Snapshot exports entirely.

Both the notes and the Analysis Context are saved in the .active file.

Application-Level Settings

These settings are stored in the application's persistent settings (per OS-user) and apply globally, not per-capture file.

Setting		How to Change
Dark / light theme		View > Dark Mode / View > Light Mode (applies to all running pods)
Always on top		View > Always On Top / View > Not Always On Top (applies to all running pods)
Working directory		... button in Settings tab
My Decoder Library folder		My Decoder Library Folder group in Settings tab (per-user)
Python interpreter		Python Interpreter group in Settings tab (per-user)
User name		Text field in Settings tab
Zoom Speed		Zoom Speed slider in Settings tab (per-pod)
Zoom Animation Speed		Zoom Animation Speed slider in Settings tab (per-pod)
Intensity		Intensity slider in Settings tab (per-pod)
Color Mode		Color Mode slider in Settings tab (per-pod)
Gridlines		Gridlines slider in Settings tab (per-pod)