How Viewer is organised

Course step 4 of 9 · about 10 minutes

In the previous step you loaded data and drew plots. This page names the pieces, and shows how they connect. Once the model is clear, the Viewer reference pages become much easier to navigate.

The model in one picture

graph TD
    SB["Session Browser"] --> SES["Sessions"]
    SES --> SET["Compare set"]
    WB["Workbook (.wbkx)"] --> PG["Pages"]
    PG --> DSP["Displays"]
    DSP --> PAR["Parameters"]
    SET -. "a display shows one set" .-> DSP

In words:

Sessions are loaded into compare sets using the Session Browser. A workbook holds pages, pages hold displays, and each display shows parameters from the set it is pointed at.

The dotted line matters most. A display is not attached to a particular file. It is attached to a set, and whatever is in the set is what you see.

The model on screen

This is the workbook you built in the previous step.

1. Menus and toolbars. Every action, including adding displays and opening the browsers.
2. The set and its session. The set number and colour, the session loaded into it, and the lap the displays are showing.
3. Timeline. The whole session, lap by lap. The shaded region is the time range on screen.
4. Page tabs. Each tab is a page in the workbook. Click + to add one.
5. Legend. Each parameter on the display, with its value at the cursor.
6. Display. Here a Waveform, plotting the parameters from the set against time.

The pieces

Piece	What it is	Where to learn more
Session	One recording, with metadata, laps, events and parameter data. Historical (finished) or live (still arriving).	Sessions
Session Browser	The place you find, load, record and manage sessions. Ctrl+L.	Session Browser
Compare set	One or more sessions loaded together. Displays point at a set. Sessions in the same set overlay.	Loading sessions
Composite session	Several sessions appended into one continuous timeline, with a green separator where they join.	Loading sessions
Workbook	Your saved workspace: pages, displays, their layout and properties.	Workbooks and pages
Page	A tab within a workbook that holds displays. Group related displays on a page.	Workbooks and pages
Display	A single visualisation: Waveform, Numeric, Scatterplot and so on.	Displays
Parameter	A measured signal (or a calculated one). Grouped by application.	Parameters
Timebase and Timeline	The time range displays show, and the control for it.	Timebase and Timeline

What is saved where

Thing	Saved in	Notes
Sessions and their data	A SQL Race database, or an .ssn2 / .ssn file	Not in the workbook.
Layout, display properties	Workbook (.wbkx)	Save with Ctrl+S. Not auto-saved.
Functions, alarms, circuit definitions, bit configuration files	Separate files opened with the workbook	If they are missing, displays that need them appear empty.
Your settings and files as a bundle	Configuration bundle (.acgx)	Use Tools > Import/Export Configuration to share a set-up with a colleague.

Properties have three levels

When you change how a parameter or display looks (colour, scale, format), Viewer remembers how widely the change applies. The icon next to each property tells you:

Icon	Level	Meaning
◻️ Square	Default	The value from the data source.
♦️ Diamond	Local	Changed for this display only.
⚪ Circle	Global	Applies to all displays of this type, including new ones.

If a colour changed everywhere and you did not mean it to, a global property is the likely cause. Right-click the property and choose Clear Global Value.

Eight shortcuts worth learning first

Keys	Does
Ctrl+L	Open the Session Browser
Ctrl+Q twice	Quick access: add a display by name
P	Open the Parameter Browser
D	Open Display Properties
Shift+1 … Shift+0	Point the selected display at set 1 to 10
Ctrl+1 … Ctrl+0	Point the whole page at set 1 to 10
Ctrl+S	Save the workbook
F1	Open the built-in help

The full list is in Keyboard shortcuts.

Next

Laps, markers and comparing runs uses these pieces for the job most analysts do every day.