### Starting a Measurement Session

Before you begin, you should have been told that a part is ready to be measured and what part you should chose. In addition, any gauge devices that send their results to the software need to be configured and tested. See "Configuring Devices to Communicate with DataGauge+".

1. Login to the database.

2. On the File tab, in the Session group, click Open to open the Part Selection dialog box:

Part Selection dialog box

3. Choose the part template to measure by selecting it from the main view.

- If you have a lot of parts you can filter the displayed parts by choosing a specific category from the side bar.

- In addition, you can start typing part of the part's name into the Part name box. The list of displayed parts is automatically filtered to only include part names that contain that same sequence of characters.

4. Click OK to open the Session Information dialog box:

Session Information dialog box

The Lot Number box is not available if you do not mark the check box for the lot number in the Options dialog box. For more information, see "Configuring DataGauge+ Options".

Fill out the available options as needed:

- Session Size - This is the session size. It is set by the administrator and cannot be changed. This is the number of samples your clamp can hold at one time. The Lot size is the number of samples for a batch. These samples are usually put in a single box with a unique Lot Number on it.

- Lot Number - This is a name or ID to identify a unique setup for a part measurement. Even though it says "number" it can be any alphanumeric label. You can select an existing Lot Number or type a new one. If you type a new value, when you click OK, you will be prompted to enter a new Lot Size value as well. If you select a Lot Number where the measurement has already been completed, the software prompts you to enter a new one.

- Variable Set - This contains filters that limit how many items to measure. Variable Sets are defined by an administrator.

- Display mode - This lets you decide the display mode when measuring the part. You can choose either Multiline or Single.

Single - Only the current dimension is displayed.

Multiline - All the dimensions are displayed in a table-like format.

- Trace Name and Trace Value - Traces are pieces of data that get stored with the measurement transaction into the database. The Trace Names column consists of read-only fields identifying the trace. Type information for each trace in the Trace Value field.

5. Click OK. If everything was filled out properly, the screen changes to whatever display mode you choose.

If you chose a Multiline display mode, you'll see a table-like view similar to the following:

Multiline display mode example a sample table-like view

If you chose the Single display mode, you'll initially see a list of items representing the individual dimension variables that you are expected to measure. If a custom picture was associated with the dimensions by the administrator, you'll see those pictures. Here are some examples of pictures from different parts:

Initial sample Single display mode showing individual dimensions with automatic images from features defined in a part program

Another initial sample Single display mode showing the individual dimensions with custom images

6. The top portion of the side bar now shows the part name, lot number, variable set, your user name, and any trace field values.

7. This side bar also shows a part image if the administrator defined one when creating the part template.

8. Now that the measurement session is open, it is ready to accept data from measurements.

9. Proceed with the measurement by following the instructions in the "Collecting Data Using DataGauge+" topic.