System and method for displaying operator-generated annotations of a trigger specification in a signal measurement system

Abstract

A system and method for use in signal measurement systems that acquire and store signal data in accordance with a trigger specification. The present invention stores and displays operator-generated annotations with each trigger branch of a trigger specification. The annotations, referred to herein as trigger branch comments, can provide meaningful information about, for example, the trigger branch condition, occurrence specification or resulting action, as well as any other aspect of the trigger specification. The branch comments are stored with the associated trigger branch as part of the instrument configuration, and are automatically restored when the configuration data is loaded into the instrument, and printed with the associated trigger branch. The display of the trigger branch comments for each trigger branch may be controlled individually or collectively to enable the operator to configure the display of the trigger specification as needed. The trigger branch comments may be provided through the use of a text editor, programmatically or through a file or data transfer. Advantageously, the operator can annotate the trigger sequence levels and branches as they are developed to facilitate insight, understanding and recollection for the same and other operators. Providing branch comments facilitates the use of previously generated and stored trigger specifications to form a new, more complex trigger specification.