Installation

Your computer must have a local copy of the Matrox Design Assistant setup to install Matrox Design Assistant. Some components cannot be installed from a network drive (for example, Matrox GigE drivers). You must also have administrator access to perform the installation.

Once you have obtained your installation media, run DesignAssistantSetup.exe and follow the instructions.

During installation, you will need to select which components to install.

There are 2 components that you can install. On a development computer, installing both components typically provides the best results.

Matrox Design Assistant Integrated Development Environment (IDE). Install the IDE to create projects (flowcharts and their associated operator views) on this computer. The IDE can deploy and run projects when connected to a runtime platform.

The IDE provides an emulation mode for working on a project when not connected to a runtime platform. Projects running in emulation mode do not have the ability to grab images, or display an operator view. To access these features on your local computer, install the Matrox Design Assistant Runtime Environment alongside the IDE.
Matrox Design Assistant Runtime Environment. Install the Matrox Design Assistant Runtime Environment to use this computer as a runtime platform. Runtime platforms can run projects created using the IDE.

Enabling this option also installs Matrox drivers for GigE Vision cameras, USB3 Vision cameras, non-paged DMA memory, and auxiliary I/O signals.

After installation, a MIL Control Center icon will appear on your desktop. This icon will launch the MIL Control Center and give you access to Matrox Design Assistant, and utilities such as the MILConfig utility.

Multiple versions of Matrox Design Assistant

It is possible to have several versions of Matrox Design Assistant installed on your computer side by side. However, you can only run one version of Matrox Design Assistant at a time. Use the Matrox Design Assistant Runtime Manager utility, available from the MIL Control Center, to select which version of Matrox Design Assistant will be active. The oldest version of Matrox Design Assistant that can be installed alongside X Version 1905 is version 4.0 SP2.

You must use the most recent version of the Matrox Design Assistant Runtime Manager utility. It is grouped with the most recent version of Matrox Design Assistant in the MIL Control Center. Different versions of the utility might have the same interface, but the most recent version might include new optimizations and fixes.

Each version of Matrox Design Assistant can open projects created by previous versions, automatically upgrading them in the process. Once upgraded, a project can only be opened by the most recent version of Matrox Design Assistant. Therefore, it is recommended to create a backup of the project before upgrading it.

If you are upgrading from a previous version of Matrox Design Assistant, refer to either the Upgrading Projects from Design Assistant 4.0 to 5 or the Upgrading Projects from DA 5 to Design Assistant X Readme for further information.

Useful references

The following additional help resources are available:

The Matrox Design Assistant Readme help files. These documents provide the latest information on Matrox Design Assistant.
The video tutorials available in the Quick Start tab.
The Quick Access pane, which provides hints and tips as you navigate through the interface.
F1 context sensitive help. This feature is available within the Matrox Design Assistant application at all times. Pressing F1 over a function displays reference information; otherwise, information from the User Guide or the User Interface Reference is displayed.
Matrox Vision Academy video tutorials, available to registered users at https://www.matrox.com/imaging/vision_academy/.
The Matrox Capture Assistant utility, accessible from the MIL Control Center. The Matrox Capture Assistant documentation ( CaptureAssistantHelp.pdf) , accessible using the help button in the utility's toolbar, provides the latest information on the Matrox Capture Assistant utility.