Overtrace is a browser-based industrial telemetry overlay tool. You load datalogs from multiple modules — compressors, gen skids, engine ECMs — and overlay every channel on one shared time axis so you can see what happened, and when, across the whole system at once.

Which datalog formats does Overtrace support?

Overtrace auto-detects Emit (Dynamic Controls), Caterpillar, Waukesha and Excel datalogs, with more formats coming. Just drop the files in and the channels are parsed and plotted automatically.

Is my telemetry data uploaded to a server?

No. All parsing happens entirely in your browser using local JavaScript in a Web worker. There is literally no upload endpoint — your datalogs never leave your machine. That privacy-by-architecture is a core part of the design.

Do I need to install anything?

No install required. Overtrace runs in any modern browser on desktop, laptop or field tablet, and works even on a spotty plant network because everything is client-side.

Can I try Overtrace before buying?

Yes. The full-featured demo runs on built-in sample telemetry, so you can try measuring, overlays and alignment for free. A license unlocks uploading your own logs, and it is tied to your account rather than a single device.

Synced windows — viewing two data sets in parallel

Some comparisons don't want to share a chart. Two units, two runs, thirty channels between them — overlaying it all is unreadable. Synced windows give each data set its own window, drag one onto your second monitor, and keep the two locked together: hover one and a ghost crosshair tracks the same moment on the other, with that window's own numbers under it.

Opening a second window

Click “⧉ Open synced window” in the top view-toggles. A second browser window opens — allow pop-ups for Overtrace if your browser blocks it.
Wait for both windows to show a “Synced” pill in the header. The first window is labelled W1, the second W2.
Load the other data set in the new window, and drag it to your second monitor.

The new window inherits your license automatically. If it hasn't paired within a few seconds, click it to bring it into focus — that prompts another license check, which is usually all it needs.

What syncs and what doesn't

Cursor position — a dashed cyan crosshair labelled “⧉ peer” marks where the other window's mouse is. The readout beside it shows this window's own values at that moment, not a copy of the peer's numbers.
Zoom range — pan or zoom either window and the other follows.
X-axis mode — switch one window between Actual time, Elapsed time and Point #, and the other switches with it.
Locks — creating, moving and deleting a lock propagates.
Annotations — label text edits and label drags propagate.
Measure points — only the time coordinate crosses. Each window snaps that time to its own nearest channel and computes its own Δ Value, so the two sides can report different values; Δ Time is identical on both by construction.
Not synced — which channels each window has visible, per-channel colors, scaling and axis sides, and the loaded modules themselves. Each window stays its own workspace.

Point # is a row index in one particular data set and means nothing in the other. While either window is in Point # mode, cursor and zoom sync pause and the pill explains why: “Sync paused — Point # cannot be shared across data sets”. A similar note appears if the two windows end up in different X-axis modes.

Sync settings

Click the “Synced” pill to open the settings dropdown. Each of the six channels — Sync cursor, Sync zoom, Sync x-mode, Sync locks, Sync annotations, Sync measure points — has its own checkbox, and all six start on. Turning a surface back on catches the other window up straight away rather than waiting for your next edit.

“Save these settings as default” — remembers your current checkboxes for future windows. There's one slot; saving again overwrites it.
“Reset to defaults” — clears the saved slot and turns all six back on.
“Disconnect” — ends the pair. The header goes back to showing “⧉ Open synced window”.

Two windows, different times

The two data sets rarely cover the same span. If you lock, annotate or measure at a time the other window isn't currently showing, the overlay is still created there — it's simply off-screen. Pan or zoom that window and it appears where it belongs. The same is true of the ghost crosshair: it's kept, and it reappears when you pan back over it.

Both windows need a license. Opening a sync URL directly without signing in leaves that window showing “Synced windows require a license” instead of pairing.

The two windows talk over a browser-built-in same-origin channel, so they must be the same browser on the same machine. Syncing across two computers, or between two different browsers, isn't supported in this release.

Sync is capped at a pair. A third window opened onto the same pair is turned away with “That sync pair already has two windows — synced viewing is limited to a pair.”

FAQ

Does the sync go through Overtrace servers?

No. The two windows talk to each other through a channel built into the browser, on your own machine. Nothing is uploaded and no server is involved.

Can I use synced windows across two laptops?

Not in this release. Both windows have to be in the same browser on the same machine.

What if the other window crashes or I close it?

Closing a window tells the other one immediately. If it dies without warning, the remaining window notices within about ten seconds and returns to unpaired, ready for you to open a fresh synced window.