Frequently asked questions

• Can I run CATS under Windows?
  CATS 3.1x and 3.2x can be installed to run properly in a DOS-Box of Windows 3.1, 3.11 or Windows 95, see CATS under Windows.

• My EPSON printer prints graphics from CATS larger than the page
  a) Use the CATS Installation Program to select "EGA Graphics". This will improve the situation.
  b) Update to at least version 3.19 where CATS overrides the error in the EPSON printer driver.
  c) Use a printer compatible with PCL3 or PCL5!<

• Printout does not start before CATS is closed on my computer running Novell network and Windows (3.1, 3.11 or 95)
  Use the installation program to activate Network printers (the /N command line switch in the CATS3.BAT file). If this switch is set, then there is probably an error in your Windows and/or Network configuration.

• The mouse does not work properly on my computer running Windows 3.1
  Use the installation program to activate the Mouse (the /M command line switch in the CATS3.BAT file). If this switch is set, then there is probably an error in your DOS mouse driver installation.

• I'm using CATS 3.1x and ATS3 version 2.1x under Win95. If each program runs alone it works well but if CATS is running the COM port used by ATS3 is reported "not available"
  a) Use CATS 3.20 which does not check all COM ports for availability but only the one assigned to the TLC Scanner 3 in the DATA-Configuration menu. Make sure the COM port assigned is not identical to the one assigned to the ATS3.
  b) If two ports are available the following Workaround may help: Enter the line COM2 AutoAssign=0 in the [386Enh] section of the SYSTEM.INI file (ATS3 Port =COM2). Then: First start the ATS3 software and send data to the instrument (e.g. "Connect"). Now Windows has reserved the COM port for the ATS3 and CATS cannot "see" it any more.
  c) If the same port is shared via a switchbox there is no Workaround under Windows. You will have to close CATS before using the COM port from ATS3.

• I save my data files on a Network and occasionally receive the error message "run unknown error 5006 138E" during scan
  This error is caused by too long delay time for saving data on the network. The timeout of approx. 1 minute cannot be changed! Use the local hard disk and transfer data off-line to the network or discuss the problem with you network administrator.

• CATS does not communicate with the Scanner although the correct COM port is selected
  CATS is 'hard'-coded to use the Interrupts IRQ 4 (COM 1) and IRQ 3 (COM 2) only. If your motherboard or Windows installation has assigned another IRQ to the COM port used by CATS the communication will fail. Make sure to use the correct IRQ for the COM port used by CATS.

Version 3.20 eliminates the following problems:

• COM error of Windows 95: CATS 3.20 does no longer test all available COM ports for FIFO capability if running in a Windows 95 DOS box. Only the selected port (as set in the DATA-Configuration menu) is tested and therefore all other ports remain available for other Windows programs (like ATS3 or AMD2).

• If more than 2 COM ports are available it is now possible to use the TLC Scanner II with CATS 3.20 on one port (i.e. COM1:), two ATS3 (COM2: & COM3:) and one AMD2 (COM4:) on the same PC. Of course, this is possible only with a serial interface supporting interrupts up to IRQ15.

• Update and display of the current date: Previous CATS versions updated the date displayed in the upper right hand corner of the screen only at program start. This date was not changed while the program was running. CATS 3.20 now performs a cyclic check for date and changes the screen information correctly without the need to restart. This feature has been implemented for all users that will run CATS during the night and thus need to be informed of the date change.

Version 3.19 eliminates the following problems:

• Year 2000 date problem: The date will be correctly displayed and printed over the year 2000. All file related dates will show two digits (00) for 2000 and all text related formats in the report will show 4 digits (2000).

• Main-/Sub-Component calculation: If more Sub-Components were entered in the calibration table than assigned during calibration there was an error message saying "to few standard tracks".

• Printing the Configuration report of CATS using a Windows 95 DOS box generates a general protection error. Workaround with 3.18: Print anything before the configuration report, e.g. a page feed <CTRL-F6>.

• Plot 2 spectra with HP1600C on the same page: The text for the second spectrum plot is the same as for the first.

• MWL, report from integration: The page numbering of the report starts over for each report (each wavelength). CATS 3.19 will print consecutive page numbers for all wavelengths printed from one integration run.

• The calibration graphs now report the correlation coefficient "r".
  NOTE: The correct value is displayed only from service release 3.19.05 (May 98).

• Image size when printing graphics on EPSON printers was bad due to a wrong parameter returned by the EPSON printer driver. This has now been improved by using a default page size for EPSON printers.

Unsolved problems:

• CATS 3.19 does not run properly in a DOS-Box of Windows NT. We invested a lot of time to try to cure this problem but cannot guarantee the functionality of the scanner communication. This is caused by Windows NT which does not submit the status of the RS232 control lines to the DOS box within reasonable time.

Version 3.18 eliminates the following problems:

• The CATS Software now runs properly under Windows (in the limits of the system).
• Track optimization runs considerably faster than in previous versions.
• The routines for plotting and printing on the same device (e.g. HP1200C/1600C configured as printer and plotter) have been optimized.
• The Print Screen procedure has been optimized for VGA screens.
• Problems with page formatting on the HP1200C and HP1600C have been eliminated.
• The transfer of scan file names into the MWL- and 2WL- integration function has been optimized.
• A number of minor errors in the Spectrum Library option, in the display of the mouse pointer, with report formats and in the Automatic function have been removed.