The Device Snapshot option is available only to network engines with a Windows Embedded OS. When you click Get Device Snapshot on the NCT Tools tab, you create a snapshot of several critical areas of the controller’s memory (Figure 1). The snapshot shows the readings for those memory areas at the moment that you clicked the button.
The information in each of the window panes provides details from the memory of the connected network engine. The information in the panes is not dynamic. To refresh the information in a device snapshot, close the window and click Device Snapshot again; however, you can save any particular snapshot to a file by clicking Save Snapshot to File on the Device Snapshot screen. Figure 2 shows an example of a snapshot log file in a Notepad window.
The Device Snapshot window includes the following information:
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Processes – This pane lists the processes running at the time of the snapshot.
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Threads – This pane lists the open threads at the time the snapshot was taken. A thread can be thought of as an application within a process. Threads consume the resources allocated by the process.
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Modules – This pane lists the modules (DLL files) that are currently called for use by the Processes and Threads. A dynamic link library is a small program that is not resident in RAM memory until it is called by a process or thread. Modules consume additional resources when called; therefore, DLL modules are only called when required.
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Windows – This pane lists the window shells called and currently open inside the controller. Use the data here to help determine whether the processes currently running are complete and correct. For example, a missing window might indicate an operating system problem.
