Actions
On the SCNI Toolbar, 'actions' are events that are triggered as soon as a button on the Action panel is pressed. Actions can be triggered an any time, irrespective of whether an experiment is currently running or not.
Run current experiment: This button is only enabled when a valid experiment .m file is selected in the Current Experiment menu of the Session panel, and a Subject name has been provided. Once enabled, pressing this button will launch the next run of the selected experiment. Pressing the button again while the experiment is running (or initializing) will pause the current experiment. Only when the run has been completed, or the user has aborted the run (e.g. by pressing the Quit button) will this button revert to functioning as Run current experiment. The keyboard shortcut for pausing a running experiment is the 'P' key. The parameters for the current experiment can be adjusted under the Experiment Settings UI launched from the Settings panel.
Reward: This button allows the experimenter to manually deliver liquid reward to the subject. It can be used both while experiments are running and while experiments are paused or stopped. The keyboard shortcut for manual reward delivery is the 'R' key. The parameters of the reward signal can be adjusted under the Reward Settings UI launched from the Settings panel.
Play Audio: This button allows the experimenter to manually trigger the playback of an audio clip to the subject. It can be used both while experiments are running and while experiments are paused or stopped. The keyboard shortcut for manual audio playback is the 'A' key. The parameters of the audio playback can be adjusted under the Audio Settings UI launched from the Settings panel.
Eye Tracking: This button allows the experimenter to run an eye-tracking calibration routine. It is only enabled when an experiment is not running. The parameters of the calibration can be adjusted under the Eye tracker Settings UI launched from the Settings panel.
End run: This button is only enabled when a experiment is currently running (i.e. after the Run current experiment button has been pressed). Pressing this button ends the current run immediately and saves the data.
Current experiment settings: This button is active only when an m-file named the same as the currently selected experiment file with a 'Settings.m' suffix has been found in the Experiment directory specified in the User panel. When pressed, this button runs that file, which ought to launch a UI allowing the user to edit and save parameters that are specific to the current experiment type. Settings UIs are provided for the in-built functions SCNI_ShowImages.m, SCNI_PlayMovies.m and SCNI_Calibration.m.
