CATS 4.0x Software Service Information

Please note that this version of the CATS software is not supported any more since the TLC Scanner 3 has been implemented into winCATS.

Frequently asked questions

Known bug in 4.06: Scan speed misreported
The scan speed is misreported in the SCAN-Parameters screen in 4.06.02 and 4.06.04 (bottom part showing the non visible parameters). The selected scan speed is thus used correctly by the scanner and reported correctly in the hard copy of the report.

WARNING: Installation problem
The CATS installation will fail if a recent version of the ATS3 software has been installed. You may use the Windows Explorer (Properties) to reset the "read only" attribute of the files VALID_4L.PAM, VALID_4S.PAM, VALID_4L.DFA and VALID_4S.DFA (data path) before starting to install CATS.
The DOS command for this action is ATTRIB -R FILENAME
(Example: C:\CAMAG\DATA_SC3>ATTRIB -R VALID_4?.*)

There is no HELP showing if I press F1 in CATS 4.05, only an empty window
Sorry, but the HELP file on the first couple of diskettes shipped is corrupted. You can download the correct file by clicking download help file (unpack the file and copy the file english.hlx into the subdirectory "english" of your main CATS4 software directory) or e-mail us for a new diskette (don't forget to state the serial number of your original disks).

Can I run CATS under Windows?
CATS 4 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 4.05 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)
This is probably an error in the Windows and/or Network configuration. The error cannot be reproduced on our computers and Novell network! If a network printer is used the file CATS.INI must contain the line NETWORK_PRINTER=YES in the section [PROGRAM].

The mouse does not work properly on my computer running Windows 3.1
We cannot reproduce this behavior provided the mouse driver for DOS is properly installed!

I'm using CATS4 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 4.06 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 workaraound 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 4.06 eliminates the following problems:

COM error of Windows 95: CATS 4.06 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 3 with CATS 4.06 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 4.06 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 4.05 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".

Integration, plot on a HP1200C or HP1600C: If the graphic and the results from one track was to be plotted/printed on the same page there was a printer driver related error: on the HP1200C the peak data was printed twice and on the HP1600C the last two lines of text were printed on the next page.

Transmissions measurements, scan was aborted if the track was "too long": This error was cause by the scanner Firmware and has been fixes in version 1.14.06 shipped with CATS 4.05.

Printing the Configuration report of CATS using a Windows 95 DOS box generates a general protection error. Workaround with 4.04: 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.

Reproducibility: If a result is > 10000 units it is scaled down to 1.xxxx in the report. This has not been a major problem since in reproducibility mode the statistics are important, not the absolute figures of the results.

MWL, report from integration: The page numbering of the report starts over for each report (each wavelength). CATS 4.05 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 4.05.03 (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 4.05 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 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 4.04 eliminates the following problems:

New problems related to printing and plotting on the same device have been eliminated (e.g. HP1200C/1600C selected at same port as printer and plotter).

Problems with page formatting of HP1200C and HP1600C.

Error setting manual baseline in video integration.

The transfer routine for file names between scan and integration have been improved in MWL mode.

Some minor errors, i.e. in the Spectrum Library option of CATS have been eliminated.

Version 4.03 eliminates the following problems:

Communication errors caused by the Firmware and occurring primarily in the validation option and during MWL scan have been eliminated.

Problems related to printing and plotting on the same device have been eliminated (e.g. HP1200C/1600C selected at same port as printer and plotter).

The validation procedure has been improved and some limits changed.

Some minor errors have been eliminated.