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Question from the Customer:

I am using the Beagle I2C/SPI Protocol Analyzer – a great device for all my work. I have a question about TDC files from the Data Center Software – how can I export the TDC files and convert them to CSV?

Response from Technical Support:

Thank you for your question! With the Data Center Software, you can export an entire capture or a subset of a capture to binary, .csv, .bin, .xml or .kba format. You can export captured data one file at a time or automatically export multiple files.

How to Export Single TDC Files

You can export files using the Data Center Software GUI, or the command-line export feature.

Exporting a File with GUI

We recommend this method for occasionally exporting captured data.

To export a capture, go to File | Export, or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+E. A dialog opens to set up the name and location of the export file.

Here are the steps to follow:

1. Click File and then click Export.
2. Enter name of the file in the File Name text box.
3. Click Save.
4. To save all the data, disable Export Only Visible Records and Mirror Column Layout. (For more information about saving all data, refer to this article.)
5. Click OK.

Exporting a File with Command-Line Export

We recommend this method for occasionally exporting a small quantity of captured files.

The export command can be manually entered in the command line interface provided in the Data Center Software. The format of the command is  export [FILE] [SETTINGS] [OVERWRITE]

• Manually use the File -> Export function with the correct settings for your file.
• The command execution will be displayed in the command execution window, which you can copy and modify as needed for exporting the subsequent files.

Automatically Export Multiple TDC Reports

Because the command-line export method supports automating tasks, we recommend it for exporting multiple files of captured data. This method uses two computers; one PC is connected to the Beagle analyzer, and the other PC is used as the remote terminal. The remote terminal executes the same commands as the internal command line interface. For more information, refer to section 5.1.5 Command Line Options of the Data Center User Manual. In addition, this article provides an example of automating tasks:

• A Python script is used with the Telnet module for interfacing with the Data Center Software.
• A command is delivered to start the capture, waits 3 seconds, then sends the commands for stop, save, and clear. The same process can be used to export captured data.

Overview of the Example Script

To help you get started, here is a python script that will need to be modified for your specific use. This script demonstrates how Data Center Software commands can be sent over Telnet to control and save the captures. This script was written for the Beagle USB 12 Protocol Analyzer, which can be modified for your Beagle I2C/SPI Protocol Analyzer as well as  exporting files.

Note - If you need continuous capture, we suggest modifying the script with the following actions:

1. Start Capture.
2. Run Capture for a certain amount of time (A).
3. Stop capture.
4. Save capture to a file.
5. Loop back to Step 1.

Note - A known limitation of this procedure is that step 4 takes time, during which some data could be lost while this step is being processed. The ensure all data is saved, you may need to increase the specified amount of time (A) in step 2.

Connecting Data Center Software from a Remote Computer

In this example:

• PC-1 is the computer connected to the Beagle analyzer
• PC-2 is the remote computer

Set Up the Script

Modify the python script as follows:

1. Replace localhost with PC-1's IP address in line no.64 (tn = telnetlib.Telnet('localhost', 6000))
2. Replace save path to a desired path in PC-1 in line no.73 (SAVE = "save(u'/tmp/foo_%s.tdc', {'no_timing': False, 'filtered_only': False}, True)")

Note – The script is set up to start capture at 8 pm and stop capture at 5 pm. This timing can be redefined, or removed from the code.

Set Up the Remote Terminal and Run the Script

1.  Connect PC-1 to the Beagle analyzer and configure PC-1 with Telnet.
2. Configure a remote PC-2 with Telnet, and open Telnet terminal to access PC-1.

   1. This allows users to remotely control the Data Center Software from a different computer.

3. In PC-1, in the directory   ..\data-center-windows-x86_64-v6.73\bin, run the datacenter.cmd in the command line:

   1. datacenter.cmd -r 6000

4. In PC-2, run the python script.

For detailed instructions, please refer to this help article.

We hope this answers your questions. Additional resources that you may find helpful include the following:

• Beagle Protocol Analyzer User Manual
• Data Center Software User Manual

If you want more information, feel free to contact us with your questions, or request a demo that applies to your application.