Markers

Markers enable you to read data values at specific points on a trace. They return the independent and dependent values of the data.

Marker Types summarizes the types of markers available in Data Display:

Marker Name	Description
Normal	Returns value from any point on a trace
Delta	Displays the difference between two markers
Offset	Finds a fixed offset from a reference marker
Peak	Finds the localized peak values of a trace
Valley	Finds the localized valleys of a trace
Max	Finds the data points that reflect the maximum data values
Min	Finds the data points that reflect the minimum data values

For more information refer to Delta Mode, Offset Marker, Peak and Valley Markers and Max and Min Markers.

When a marker is inserted, the following items appear on the display page:

• The marker symbol.
• The marker readout, which returns the data at that point on the trace.
• Marker labels, one on the trace and one in the readout. This is helpful when you have multiple markers displayed.

The figure below shows a marker inserted onto a trace and the data returned from that point on the trace.

Markers can also be used in equations. For information refer to Using Markers in Equations.

Inserting Markers

You can insert one or more markers onto a trace.

To insert a marker:

1. Choose Marker > New <Marker Type> or select the appropriate marker from the Marker toolbar.
   

   Note The Marker toolbar display is disabled by default. To enable it choose Options > Hot Key/Toolbar Configuration, select the Toolbar tab and enable the Marker toolbar display.

2. The Insert Marker dialog box appears. Position the pointer on the trace where you want to insert the marker and click.
3. The dialog box is automatically dismissed.

You can then drag the marker and move it to any position along the trace. An active marker readout is displayed to help you position the marker.

The marker data appears next to the marker. To keep your plot uncluttered, enlarge the data display window, select the marker readout text, and drag it off to one side of the plot.

Moving Markers

There are three ways to move markers:

• Drag the marker to any position along a trace. An active marker readout is displayed to help you position the marker.
• Select the marker and move it to the next or previous data point by:
  • Using the arrow keys on your keyboard
  • Using the arrow buttons on the Marker toolbar
  • Selecting Next Data Point or Previous Data Point from the Marker pulldown menu or from the marker popup menu
• Change the value and units of the independent variable in the marker readout. For more information, refer to Editing the Marker Readout.

Editing Markers

You can change the properties of an individual marker using the Edit Marker Properties dialog box.

Note Any changes that you make will only affect the currently selected marker. To change the properties for all markers added subsequently, refer to Setting Marker Preferences.

To edit a marker...

1. Double-click the marker or the marker readout to display the Edit Marker Properties dialog box.
2. Use the dialog box to edit the marker.
   
   By default the Edit Marker Properties dialog box opens to the Main tab, where you can:
   • Change the marker label text in the Marker Name field

     Note Markers can be used in equations by adding the marker label to an equation. Be aware that if you use a marker label in an equation and then change the marker label in the Marker Name field, you must update your equation with the new marker label.

   • Change the marker type in the Marker Type field
   • Select Delta or Offset mode in the Marker Mode field, or Off to deactivate those modes
   • Control the aperture size using the Peak/Valley Marker area
   • Select the reference marker in the Delta/Offset Marker area
   • Enter the relative offset value in the Delta/Offset Marker area

     The Symbol/Label tab enables you to make changes to the marker label and symbol appearing on the trace. You can:

   • Select a font type, text size and text color for the label in the Marker Label area
   • Change the marker color using the Marker Color dropdown menu

     Select the Readout tab to edit the marker readout. This tab enables you to:

   • Select a font type
   • Select a text size
   • Select a text color
   • Select a readout format
   • Select a complex format
   • Enter a number of significant digits

     Note Before you click OK, you can check the Don't Move Readout With Plot checkbox to keep a specific marker readout from moving with the associated plot. Note that this behavior is not saved between sessions and the default behavior is always unchecked.

     If the marker is used on a Smith chart, click the Smith tab, where you can:

   • Select a marker type
   • Select a marker format
   • Enter a number of significant digits
   • Select a complex format
   • Select the Zo type
3. Click OK to close the dialog box and accept the changes.

Changing Marker Type

You can change the type of an existing marker in one of two ways:

• Double-click the marker or its readout and use the Edit Marker Properties dialog box to select a different type of marker.
  OR
• Select the marker and right-click the mouse, then select a different marker type from the popup menu.
  

Deleting Markers

To delete markers, do the following:

1. To delete a single marker, single-click on the marker. For multiple markers, hold the Shift key down and single-click on each marker of interest.
2. Press the Delete key or choose Edit > Delete.

Setting Marker

Preferences
Marker preferences set the default marker properties and determine the appearance of a marker when it is inserted onto a plot.
Marker preference changes will apply to all markers created after the changes were made and saved. To change properties for an existing marker, refer to Editing Markers.

To save and reuse preference settings, you can create a preferences file that can be read by the data display. For more information on how to create and use such a file, refer to Setting Data Display Preferences.

To set marker preferences, do the following:

1. Choose Options > Preferences to display the Preference dialog box.
2. Click the Marker tab to edit the marker preferences.
   
   There are three tabs under the Marker tab. Use the Main tab to:
   • Select a font type, text size and text color for the label in the Marker Label area
   • Change the marker color using the Marker Color dropdown menu
   • Change the aperture size using the Peak/Valley Marker area
   • Enter the relative offset in the Offset Marker area

     Use the Readout tab to set the marker readout preferences:

   • Select a font type
   • Select a text size
   • Select a text color
   • Select a readout format
   • Select a complex format (for Polar plots or Smith Charts)
   • Enter a number of decimal digits

     If the marker is used on a Smith Chart, click the Smith tab, where you can:

   • Select a marker type
   • Select a marker format
   • Enter a number of decimal digits
   • Select a complex format
   • Select the Zo type
3. Click OK to close the dialog box and accept the changes.

Marker Readout

A marker readout includes:

• A label that matches the label on the marker
• The value of the independent variable
• The value of the dependent variable. Values from polar plots and Smith charts are displayed in real and imaginary components; markers on Smith charts also display either impedance or admittance. Values from rectangular and stacked plots are returned in scalar format.
• The sweep value of the marker's position in the data
• The marker type (displayed for all marker types except for Normal marker)
  

Editing the Marker Readout

The independent value of the marker readout can be edited directly, thus avoiding the need to drag the marker to a particular value. The following example illustrates the position of the independent variable value and units.

To edit the independent variable value:

1. Click the independent variable value and units portion of the marker readout. The text will turn red.
2. Enter the new value and/or units. The marker indicator will move to the point nearest the entered value. Conversions between understood units will be updated automatically.

   Note The units evaluator only understands a limited set of units. For instance, in the example shown above, usec is understood as microseconds (i.e. 10e-6 seconds); however, micro secs is not.

Delta Mode

The difference between two markers can be displayed using delta mode. The readout of the selected marker changes relative to the marker that you assign as the reference.

You can select any markers in a data display for comparison in delta mode. The markers can be on the same trace, on different traces in the same plot, or on different traces in different plots. The delta marker equation is:
delta = delta marker - reference marker

The following example shows two markers used in delta mode. Note that the marker in delta mode is rotated. The reference marker is unchanged.

To activate delta mode:

1. Hold the shift key and select the markers you want to display in delta mode. Be sure to include the reference marker.

   Hint As an alternative to selecting markers, you can select the marker readouts.

2. Choose Marker ** > ** Delta Mode On or right click and select Delta Mode On from the popup menu.
3. A dialog box appears listing the selected markers. Select one marker from this list to be the reference marker.
4. Click OK.

To deactivate delta mode Choose Marker ** > ** Delta/Offset Mode Off or right click and select Delta/Offset Mode Off from the popup menu.

You can also activate and deactivate delta mode using the Edit Marker Properties dialog box. For more information refer to Editing Markers.

Offset Marker

An Offset marker enables you to set a fixed offset from a reference marker on a linear trace contained in a rectangular plot. When you move the reference marker, the Offset marker moves with it, keeping the relative offset unchanged.

The Offset Marker snaps to the closest actual data point that matches the value you define in the Edit Marker Properties dialog box. You can control which side of the reference marker the Offset marker will reside.

The following example shows two markers used in offset mode. Note that the marker in offset mode is rotated. The reference marker is unchanged.

To activate offset mode:

1. Hold the shift key and select the markers you want to use in offset mode.

   Hint As an alternative to selecting markers, you can select the marker readouts.

2. Choose Marker > Offset Mode On or right-click and select Offset Mode On from the popup menu.
3. A dialog box appears listing the selected markers. Select one marker from this list to be the reference marker.
4. Click OK.

   Note When you activate offset mode in this way, the offset is set to the default relative offset. To change the default offset, use the Preference dialog box. For more information refer to Setting Marker Preferences. If you need to set a unique offset each time, activate offset mode using the Edit Marker Properties dialog box. For more information refer to Editing Markers.

To deactivate offset mode use one of the following options:

• Choose Marker > Delta/Offset Mode Off or right-click and select Delta/Offset Mode Off from the popup menu.

You can also deactivate offset mode using the Edit Marker Properties dialog box. For more information refer to Editing Markers.

Note When you attempt to add an Offset marker on a trace or a plot that doesn't support this marker type, the marker is automatically converted to delta marker and a warning message pops up. The warning will also occur if you change the trace type or if the simulation results change the automatic trace type to an unsupported type.

Peak and Valley Markers

Peak and Valley markers enable you to find the localized data peaks and valleys of a linear trace contained in a rectangular plot.

Note The value of each peak may be lower than the maximum data value for the entire trace, and the value of each valley may be higher than the minimum data value for the entire trace. To find the minimum and maximum data values use the Min and Max markers.

You can insert and drag Peak and Valley markers like any other marker. These markers snap to peak or valley points automatically, and you can then move them to the next/previous peak/valley in different ways:

• Use the arrow keys on your keyboard.
• Use the arrow buttons on the Marker toolbar.
• Select Next data point or Previous data point from the Marker pulldown menu or popup menu.

  Note When a Peak or Valley marker is placed on a trace or a plot that doesn't support this marker type, the marker is automatically converted to a supported marker type (Max/Min) and a warning message pops up. The conversion also occurs if the trace type is changed, either by you or by simulation results, to a type that doesn't support Peak and Valley markers. Note that the markers are not automatically converted back to their original type even if the data is restored to its original type.

Peak and Valley Marker Aperture

A marker aperture enables you to selectively include or exclude data peaks and valleys.
The aperture is a box that surrounds the marker and is used to identify peaks. It reflects the percentage of the maximum data range. To include smaller peaks/valleys, make the aperture smaller, and to reject smaller peak/valley locations, make the aperture larger.

The following figures demonstrate the role of the marker aperture:

• The first figure is an example of an invalid peak, because the data inside the aperture does not form a peak (in a valid peak the slope of the data leading to the peak is positive and the slope of the data trailing the peak is negative).
  
• Reducing the size of the aperture (as shown in the next figure) makes the marker location a valid peak.
  

The aperture enables you to reject peaks that you are not interested in, an important capability with signals that have many "noisy" peaks.

To change the aperture size...

1. Double click a Peak/Valley marker or its readout to display the Edit Marker Properties Dialog box.
2. Select the Main tab.
3. Use the Aperture Width % and Aperture Height % fields in the Peak/Valley Marker area to change the width and height of the marker.
4. Click OK to save the changes and close the dialog box

To change the default aperture for all newly created Peak and Valley markers, refer to Setting Marker Preferences. The new default aperture will apply to all markers created after the changes were made and saved.

Max and Min Markers

The Max marker snaps to the maximum data point of a trace, and the Min marker snaps to the minimum data point of a trace.
You can only move Max and Min markers on a trace if there are multiple (equal) maximum data points or minimum data points on the same trace.
To move a Max/Min marker to the next or previous Max/Min data point, select the marker and...

• Use the arrow keys on you keyboard
• Use the arrow buttons on the Marker toolbar
• Select Next Data Point or Previous Data Point from the Marker pulldown menu or from the marker popup menu