Getting Started #3 - CPS User Productivity Preferences

Tutorial Scripts

The Introduction See This Tutorial Segment

In Segment 2 of this lesson, you are walked through the “Window Layout Choices”. In Segment 3 of this lesson, you are walked through the “Menu Bar Choices”. These user-interface choices are CPS-designed to enhance your radio-programming productivity. Your personal preferences within these user-interface elements, ultimately determines your productivity style within the CPS.  

Flexible Window Layout Choices See This Tutorial Segment

Once the CPS is in the Codeplug Configuration programming mode, just at the bottom area of the CPS, you will find the "Reports and Information Window", and on the far right side of the CPS you will find the "Field Information Window".

These two windows have very similar functionality to the CPS’s "Navigation Window". All three windows may be accessed in a fly-out mode, a pinned mode, or even a floating window mode. Click on the Push Pin to unpin these windows.

To initiate the Fly-Out mode, hover-on or click-on the window’s Tabs. When only hovering on a window’s Tab, note that the Window closes on its own, once the mouse cursor is removed. However, when clicking-on a Tab, the window closes once anything else in the CPS is clicked on.

To operate any of these windows in a Pinned Mode, first open the Window, and then simply click the Push Pin button to pin the Window in the open position. Note that the CPS features that are currently shown in the Features Window are moved over to make room for the pinned windows. Also Note, that when these Windows are pinned open, the "Features Window" opens scroll bars allowing all of the content to be seen. Also Note, that if you are operating with a smaller computer screen, unpinning these Windows may offer you the most efficient configuration.

You may also "float" all three of these Windows outside of the boundaries of the CPS Window. Double-clicking on the Title Bar allows a window to be floated. In effect these windows become their own independent window and therefore may be moved to any desired location on your system’s screen. Note that, double-clicking again on the title bar re-inserts the window back into the CPS’s main window. Be aware that, if a window is accidentally closed, it may be easily re-opened from the Menu Bar’s “View”, "Windows" selection.

Flexible Menu Bar Choices See This Tutorial Segment

There are several elements within the menu bar area. Let’s examine them closer.

From the far top left we have the menu’s Application Button. Clicking on the button reveals its features, and clicking on each Tab also reveals its related features. Starting from the left, we have the "Codeplug" tab, the "View" tab, the "Device" tab, the "Tools" tab, and finally the "Help" tab. This area of feature selections just under each Tab is also known as the "Ribbon Bar". Also Note, this little arrow next to the Application button allows you to select to run the Ribbon Bar in a pinned maximize mode. Alternatively, as you have already seen, you may run these menus in the minimized Fly-Out mode, and just like with the CPS's Fly-Out capable windows, more of your screen's working space is available for other purposes.

Ultimately. the Fly-Out mode for all CPS windows and menus leaves more room in the Features Window, and therefore, less scrolling when programming CPS features.

This concludes the third Getting Started Tutorial, be sure to continue-on with the fourth Getting Started tutorial “Re-usable Profiles and Workflows”.