Portocal II - Importing procedures

[gkrik]

Hello to all.

Recently I got the opportunity to access procedures for Portocal II. We had this software since 2000 (I think), but didn't make much use of it (because we were advised not to, since the company-Wavetek-had been acquired by Fluke and would no longer support it).
However, since quite a few of the procedures I got hold of-through Fluke's site-cannot be found for MET/CAL, I decided to start using Portocal again. Unfortunately, I have ran into problems: many of the procedures simply cannot be imported, and I am getting the message "Cal engine not found". Some of them can be imported and run smoothly.
Does anyone still use this software? I would appreciate any hint-everything I tried following the manual failed

[Jerry Eldred]

I used Portocal a few years ago and was not an expert with it. But in the case someone more knowledgable than I doesn't respond, I'll at least give you my guesses (whata I would try if I were faced with the situation).

You may have tried all of these things, so don't be insulted, as I like to start with basics when resolving such issues. And by the way, I totally agree (per my recollections), as I recall, Portocal had a lot of scope procedures not available in Met/Cal.

The first thing, I would spend some time assuring I had my manuals; if not, see if they are available for download. Definitely try to get the manuals.

In my NON-expert opinion, it sounds like it may be an installation-related (or configuration-related) problem.

If it says "Cal Engine Not Found," maybe there is a configuration setting that needs to be changed.

The other thing (I don't recall very well)... does Portocal require a hardware key? I know some of the older rev's of Met/Cal required a hardware device connected to an LPT1: port or something like that. But I don't remember if Portocal had that same requirement.

The next thing I would definitely try (if you are totally stuck) is contacting Fluke. Send an email. I have had generally good luck with quality companies at least attempting to assist me. I won't promise it will work; and I recommend asking the right way (explain your circumstance and ask if there are any people still there who are familiar with Portocal, who could possibly assist).

The last though is that if (and ONLY if) you have all the manuals and original disks, consider trying a re-installation. That may weed out a configuration problem if nothing else will.

[gkrik]

Thank you Jerry, for the prompt reply.
Well, as you have guessed, I have already tried the things you suggest (I must though agree with you, it is always better to remind people of the obvious-we simply tend to forget it!): I do have the manuals, but they are not very helpful on that. I have also tried different installations, but with no result. And yes, you are right: Portocal has a hardware key for the parallel port-fortunately I have that also! I don't think however that the absense of it would interfere with importing new procedures, but the program would not let you run the procedure and communicate with the instruments (I didn't try importing the procedures without the key, to be honest).
I also have contacted Fluke about it, but they have stopped supporting Portocal. Still, the person responsible for it has offered me some advise, but this was not good enough.
I hope that someone else, still using PII will reply, but thanks again anyway!