Microscan MS-4 User manual

EZ Trax™
Quick Start Guide
Copyright ©2007 Microscan Systems, Inc.
P/N 83-200013 Rev B

Step 1 — Install EZ Trax
Once your reader is connected to a host computer with Windows operating system (Vista, XP, or 2000),
you can use EZ Trax to capture, store, and retrieve symbol images.
If downloading from your EZ Trax CD:
• Insert the CD in your computer’s CD drive.
• Choose EZ Trax Software from the main menu.
• Launch Setup.exe under EZ Trax and follow the prompts.
If downloading from the web:
•Gotohttp://www.microscan.com/downloadcenter
• Create a new “myMicroscan” member account or, if you are already a member, enter your user name
and password.
• Click the Download Software link and download the latest version of EZ Trax to a directory of your
choice.
• At the end of the installation process, the following icon will appear on your desktop:
• Click the EZ Trax icon to start the program.
Step 2 — Select Reader Model
When you first run EZ Trax, the following dialog will appear:
Click the button beneath the picture of your reader. The main interface for your selected reader will then
appear. The example below shows the Quadrus MINI interface.

Step 3 — Explore the EZ Trax Interface
Step 4 — Configure Your Reader in ESP
Your reader can be configured in three ways using ESP:
• Choosing items from dropdown menus in the tree controls.
• Sending commands in Terminal mode.
• Interacting directly with the graphic interfaces.
To configure your reader in ESP, click the App Mode button. Once you are in App Mode, click the
Configuration button and then use the tree controls, the Terminal window, and the other graphic
interfaces available to set and save desired reader parameters.
Important: The reader’s Trigger Mode, <K200>, must be set to External Edge, and its Capture Mode,
<K241>, must be set to Rapid Capture for EZ Trax to operate correctly.
Select a location
in host memory
where EZ Trax
canstorecaptured
images.
Set the amount of memory
allocated for storage.
Click the Capture button to begin the image capture and storage
process. Click Retrieve to access stored images.
EZ Trax can capture and store an image for each Good Read, Noread, or Mismatch (between the captured
symbol and a Master Symbol). It can also be set to capture for both Good Reads and Noreads.
Note: Image Output options vary depending on the reader that is in operation. The Mismatch option is
available for Quadrus MINI and MS-4 only.
Choose which format to use for output of captured symbol images.
Hint: TIFFs and BMPs, while higher resolution than JPEGs, take significantly longer to transfer.
Set connection parameters here.
When the Aux Port box is checked, you can use the Aux Port to transfer image captures while you use the Host
Port to run another application in tandem with EZ Trax.
Note: Only the Quadrus MINI and MS-4 support this feature. See Configure Your Reader in ESP for details
about how to prepare the reader for Aux Port operation.
Click here to
open ESP.

Configure Your Reader in ESP (continued)
Important: If you will be using the Aux Port for an application other than EZ Trax, you must first set Aux
Port Mode, <K101>, to Command Processing, as shown below. (Only the Quadrus MINI and MS-4
support this use of the Aux Port.
For more information on how to enable Aux Port, see Select Communications Protocol.)
Step 5 — Select Communications Protocol
For RS-232:
For USB:
For Ethernet:
Use the dropdown menu to select your port setting (COM1 is default).
Default settings for Baud Rate, Parity, Stop Bits, and Data
Bits are automatically chosen when you open EZ Trax.
If you need to use a separate application to collect symbol data while you are capturing
images with EZ Trax, you can enable the Aux Port for simultaneous operation.
For an explanation of how to configure the reader for simultaneous
Aux Port and Host
Port operation, see
Hardware Configuration for Aux Port Operation .
Your reader is identified in this field once a USB connection
has been established.
If you connect a USB device after EZ Trax is already running,
click Search for USB Devices.
If your reader has been assigned an IP address, enter it
in the IP Address text field.
Use the arrows to identify your Primary TCP Port and
Video TCP Port.

Step 6 — Connect to EZ Trax
Once you have selected your communications protocol and set connection parameters, click the Connect
button at the bottom of the Communications dialog.
After you achieve a successful connection, you will see the green CONNECTED indicator on the EZ Trax
status bar at the bottom right of the screen.
Step 7 — Select File Type and Image Output Mode
Step 8 — Set File Storage Parameters
Choose between higher-resolution (TIFF or BMP) or
lower-resolution (JPEG) image files. If your image output
is in JPEG format, you have the additional options of
Low, Medium, or High resolution.
Note: If you are connected to EZ Trax with a Quadrus EZ
reader or Quadrus Verifier, the higher-resolution file format
is BMP instead of TIFF.
You can set EZ Trax to output image captures in your
chosen file type in response to various read cycle
results: Good Read, Noread, Both Good Read and
Noread, or Mismatch (when a decoded symbol
doesn’t match a predetermined master symbol).
Before you begin capturing and storing images, select a location on your host computer
or network where EZ Trax can store the image captures.
Use the arrows next to the Allocated Memory field to determine
the total storage capacity that EZ Trax will be able to use for
captured images.
If you enable the Storage Capacity Warning option, you can
choose the specific percentage of allocated memory that will be
filled before EZ Trax sends you a warning message. This example
shows a condition in which EZ Trax will send a warning when the
storage location has reached
75% of its predetermined 150 MB
memory capacity.
If you enable First In/First Out, EZ Trax will begin overwriting the image storage location when it becomes
full, starting with the first image that was captured.

Set File Storage Parameters (continued)
Options Menu
The Options dropdown menu allows you to create a Document Memo, set Filename Options, and
configure the software to Auto Connect and Start when you open and run EZ Trax.
Document Memo
Any information you type in the Document Memo field will be shown whenever you click on Document
Memo in the Options dropdown menu.
Filename Options
Auto Connect and Start
If EZ Trax is opened from a .ezt file and the Auto Connect Start option is checked on the Options
dropdown menu, EZ Trax will connect to the reader and start the capture and storage process immediately.
This allows the user to insert the saved .ezt file into the Startup folder, so that when the system re-starts, EZ
Trax will run automatically, connect, and receive images from the reader.
The Predefined options allow you to choose between
three different preset time stamp formats. Time stamps
are appended to symbol data, and the entire string is
used as the name of the image file.
Select Filename Options to access the view shown below.
The Custom field lets you arrange time stamp data in any
order within the file name. You can also add user-defined
information, or choose to create file names entirely of
user-defined data, without time stamp information.

Step 9 — Begin Capturing and Storing Images
After all parameters have been configured, you will be able to start capturing and storing images. To
begin, click the Capture button, which is located below the File Storage dialog.
Important: If your reader is not set to External Edge triggering mode and Rapid Capture mode when
you click Capture, the following message will appear:
You can open your pre-selected file storage location at any time by clicking the Retrieve button, located
to the right of the Capture button.
Note: If you have not already chosen a storage location, EZ Trax will automatically open the “My Pictures”
folder on the host computer when you click the Retrieve button.

Hardware Configuration for Aux Port Operation
If you will be using the Aux Port in tandem with the host port, you will need to include a modem cable in
your hardware configuration. The following illustration shows the correct cabling for Aux Port operation.
Microscan Systems, Inc. 1201 SW 7th St. Renton, WA 98057 USA Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone] www.microscan.com