Using the Matrox Design Assistant configuration portal

The Matrox Design Assistant configuration portal is a set of web pages, referred to as portal pages, resident on the runtime platform.

You can use the portal pages of the Matrox Design Assistant configuration portal (for both a PC and a supported Matrox smart camera platform) to:

Manage projects installed on your runtime platform (specifically, to run projects, show the operator view, and delete unused projects to free memory space on your runtime platform). For more information, see the Managing projects on your runtime platform subsection of this section.
View images from your camera.
View EtherNet/IP assemblies, PROFINET modules, Modbus data tables, and auxiliary I/O signals.
Define calibrations and, for color cameras, define white balance settings.
Manage some security features.

A supported Matrox smart camera's configuration portal has additional platform-specific administrative and configuration pages (for example, the TCP/IP portal page), accessible using the Administration () button. For more information about additional portal pages on the Matrox Iris GTR smart camera, see the Portal pages of your Matrox Iris GTR section in Appendix D: Matrox Iris GTR.

Accesing the Matrox Design Assistant configuration portal

To access the Matrox Design Assistant configuration portal of the currently connected runtime platform from Matrox Design Assistant, click on the Show portal in browser () toolbar button of the Platform toolbar.

To view the local Matrox Design Assistant configuration portal of a PC runtime platform, right-click on the DA Agent notification icon () in the runtime platform's taskbar, and then select Go to the Design Assistant portal webpage. Alternatively, you can access the portal of a runtime platform by typing localhost in the address bar of a web browser on the runtime platform.

To access the Matrox Design Assistant configuration portal of any runtime platform on your local network from a web browser, go to the address http://Auto_Net_Name, where Auto_Net_Name is the name or IP address of the runtime platform that you want to access. The default name of a Matrox smart camera is written on a sticker on its side.

Managing projects on your runtime platform

If a project is running (or has recently run) on your runtime platform, a box will appear on the portal page with the relevant information about the project. The HOME portal page allows you to terminate a project and run a different one already stored on your platform.

You can manage the storage space on your runtime platform by deleting projects (stored on your runtime platform) that are not in regular use. You can delete these projects using the PROJECTS portal page. Additional information about the project is also provided on this portal page. You should ensure that you have a copy of the project on your development computer before deleting a project from the runtime platform. You can download a project from a connected runtime platform to your development computer, using the File Import Project menu item in Matrox Design Assistant.

Note that you cannot delete a project if it is currently running.

Network folders and persistent connections with a supported Matrox smart camera

A project running on a supported Matrox smart camera might require access to a folder on the network (for example, if using the ImageWriter step, the TextReader step, or the TextWriter step). For more information about accessing a network folder, and how to validate your domain access credentials, see Acquiring permission to a network folder.

Alternatively, you can establish a persistent connection, which provides a convenient way to access a specific network folder. For information on how to specify the permission to access these folders or set up a persistent connection, see the Specifying a path section in Appendix A: Expression syntax.