Start and stop recording at specific times

Aim

To have UltraVox XT start and/or stop recording at specific clock times, without being in front of the computer.

Example: Start recording at 0:00 AM.

Prerequisites

nYou have the UltraVox XT 4 installation package at hand.

nOn your UltraVox XT computer, check that the following folder exist:

C:\ProgramData\Noldus\UltraVox\XT 4\Synch

If you do not see the Program Data folder, in the Windows File Explorer click View > Folder Options > On the View tab select Show hidden files, folders and drives.

Procedure

Step 1 - Copy and edit the batch file that triggers UltraVox XT

With the following steps you make a batch file that copies a file “Start.txt” to a specific folder of UltraVox XT./

1.On the UltraVox XT 4 installation package, browse to Extras. Copy the folder UltraVox XT 4 Control.

2.Paste the folder to a location on your computer.

3.Right-click the file SUV.bat and select Edit with > Notepad.

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4.On the first line, enter the following:

@if exist "C:\ProgramData\Noldus\UltraVox\XT 4\Synch\start.txt" del "C:\ProgramData\Noldus\UltraVox\XT 4\Synch\start.txt"

5.On the second line, enter the address of the “start.txt” file, which is located in the same folder as the SUV file. The second address is the same as that on the first line.

@copy "[location on your PC]\UltraVox XT 4 Control\start.txt" "C:\ProgramData\Noldus\UltraVox\XT 4\Synch" > nul

Step 2 - Program the Windows Task Scheduler

With the following steps you program the Windows Task Scheduler to start the batch file at the time required.

1.In the Control Panel, choose System and Security and under Administrative Tools click Schedule tasks. If you do not find this, in the Search field enter “schedule” and click Schedule tasks.

2.Click Create Task on the right panel.

3.On the General tab, give a name to the task.

4.Click the Triggers  tab. Select date and time required, and whether the task should be repeated, for example each night.

5.Click the Actions tab. Click New, next to Action select Start a program. Click Browse and select the SUV file.

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6.Click OK.

Step 3 - Activate UltraVox

1.In UltraVox XT, click Trial Control, and under Start acquisition select External program trigger.

2.The UltraVox XT recording screen must be open the moment that the scheduled task is activated. Therefore, before leaving the lab, in UltraVox XT choose Acquisition > Open Acquisition. You do not need to click the Start display button.

Note

nTo stop recording at a specific time, make a separate task in Windows Task scheduler. In that task, select the file SUV.bat as defined above. In the Trial Control Settings, under Stop acquisition select External program trigger.

nTo control UltraVox XT from EthoVision XT, see Control UltraVox XT from other software.

nThe procedure outlined above is also valid when you work with multiple microphones.

See also

nControl UltraVox XT from other software