data browser won't appear

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Sat, 05/19/2012 - 03:19 pm

I'm running 32-bit Igor Pro v6.2.2.2 on 64-bit Windows 7.

I'm experiencing a frustrating issue with Igor Pro that hopefully has an easy solution: I can't locate or create the Data Browser. I was in the middle of working in an Experiment, and all the windows within the main Igor window suddenly disappeared. I was in the middle of executing a procedure I wrote, but unfortunately, I don't remember exactly what key I hit right before the windows disappeared. I was unable to make the windows reappear, so I reverted to an earlier version of the Experiment. All the windows reappeared except the Data Browser. I tried clicking Data -> Data Browser, Windows -> Data Browser, and typing CreateBrowser in the Command Line, but it still wouldn't appear. I then tried running a procedure I wrote that calls the Data Browser. It doesn't show in the Igor main window. A "preview" shows up in the Windows taskbar, but the preview only shows a white pop-up box, and if I click it, Igor crashes. I uninstalled and reinstalled Igor Pro, but even when I open a new Experiment, I cannot get the Data Browser to appear.

Any help on this issue will be appreciated.
(Update on the previous post)

At this point, I have tried several times to do a clean install of Igor Pro, but I still can't get the Data Browser to appear.

Perhaps I changed some setting that prevents the Data Browser from appearing. I had hoped that removing all traces of Igor Pro (I followed the instructions in the "Miscellaneous" folder in the Igor Pro Folder to remove the registry entries) would address this issue, but it appears that Igor retains some settings even after this step. My evidence for this is that I had turned off the option to have a blank table appear when opening a new Experiment. When I reinstalled Igor Pro, this option had not reverted to the default (i.e., when I pressed "Revert to Default", the box for "Make a table for new experiments" gets checked).

So, at this point, if there's not a simply fix to get the Data Browser back, my question is how to remove all settings so I can do an actual clean install.

May 19, 2012 at 05:16 pm - Permalink

If anyone is curious or runs into this problem themselves, Igor support emailed me back and the advice they gave me worked perfectly:

Try hiding your current preferences file which will force Igor to create a new one. To do this:

A. Run Igor.
B. Press the shift key and click the Help menu.
C. Choose Show Igor Preferences Folder from the Help menu.
D. Quit Igor.
E. In the Igor preferences folder, rename "Igor Preferences.ipr.igr" to "X-Igor Preferences.ipr.igr" to hide it from Igor.
F. Restart Igor. Igor will create a new "Igor Preferences.ipr.igr" file.

Howard emailed me at 8p on a Sat. WaveMetrics is the best.

May 19, 2012 at 06:06 pm - Permalink