Measurement-computing DASYLab User Manual User Manual

Data Acquisition, Controlling, and MonitoringDASYLabJune 2013 374212E-01

About This Manualxii | dasylab.comThis icon denotes a tip, which alerts you to advisory information.This icon denotes a note, which alerts you to impo

© National Instruments Ireland Resources Limited | 1-11Getting Started with DASYLabWith DASYLab you can complete measurement, control, and simulation

Chapter 1 Getting Started with DASYLab1-2 | dasylab.comCreating a Simple WorksheetWhen DASYLab starts, the DASYLab worksheet window opens with the men

DASYLab© National Instruments Ireland Resources Limited | 1-33. Click the Plus sign next to the module group Display in the browser.a. Select the Y/t

Chapter 1 Getting Started with DASYLab1-4 | dasylab.comFigure 1-2. Displaying Generated Signals7. Right-click the Y/t Chart display window workspace

DASYLab© National Instruments Ireland Resources Limited | 1-5Figure 1-3. Color and Line Display of a Display Windowe. Click OK. The drawing area of t

Chapter 1 Getting Started with DASYLab1-6 | dasylab.com2. Click the input field Formula and enter the following formula:IN(0)-IN(1)The formula subtrac

DASYLab© National Instruments Ireland Resources Limited | 1-75. Repeat these steps to connect the bottom data channel to Input 1 of the Formula Interp

Chapter 1 Getting Started with DASYLab1-8 | dasylab.comInserting Digital InstrumentsComplete the following steps to include a digital instrument in th

DASYLab© National Instruments Ireland Resources Limited | 1-9Figure 1-6. Displaying Numeric Data in the Digital Meter 7. Stop the measurement after s

English-Language Support and DistributionAmericasMeasurement Computing Corporation10 Commerce WayNorton, MA 02766 USATel.: +1 508-946-5100Fax: +1 508-

Chapter 1 Getting Started with DASYLab1-10 | dasylab.com2. Double-click the Digital Meter module to open the dialog box.a. Click the Copy inputs check

DASYLab© National Instruments Ireland Resources Limited | 1-11displays various parameters of this data channel such as the sampling rate, the block si

© National Instruments Ireland Resources Limited | 2-12Defining MeasurementsUse a worksheet to describe measurement, control, and display tasks. Selec

Chapter 2 Defining Measurements2-2 | dasylab.comThe data flow starts on the left with a data source such as the input modules of the installed hardwar

DASYLab© National Instruments Ireland Resources Limited | 2-3If you want to delete a module, select the module and press <Del>. If you want to c

Chapter 2 Defining Measurements2-4 | dasylab.comstarts. For example, if you have a module with the same number of inputs and outputs and you do not wa

DASYLab© National Instruments Ireland Resources Limited | 2-5Modules that display, save, or output data to the hardware by default have only inputs.Yo

Chapter 2 Defining Measurements2-6 | dasylab.comconfiguration comprises the channel name, the unit, and all function-specific settings. Channel 1 of t

DASYLab© National Instruments Ireland Resources Limited | 2-7To insert a black box in the worksheet, select Special»Empty Black Box on the Modules tab

Chapter 2 Defining Measurements2-8 | dasylab.com<Language>\Blackbox and Windows XP — C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\DASYLab\<V

Important InformationWarrantyThe media on which you receive National Instruments software are warranted not to fail to execute programming instruction

© National Instruments Ireland Resources Limited | 3-13Visualizing MeasurementsDASYLab offers various modules for visualizing acquired and processed m

Chapter 3 Visualizing Measurements3-2 | dasylab.comTo open all windows simultaneously, click Restore All Windows on the function bar. To open one indi

DASYLab© National Instruments Ireland Resources Limited | 3-3exceptions because they can process continuous data and triggered data together in one mo

Chapter 3 Visualizing Measurements3-4 | dasylab.comhorizontally: Press <Ctrl> and the left mouse button to move the curves vertically, and press

DASYLab© National Instruments Ireland Resources Limited | 3-5glass on the toolbar of the display window to zoom in or out of the section repeatedly. D

Chapter 3 Visualizing Measurements3-6 | dasylab.comFigure 3-2. Waterfall Display of an Online FFT The color sonogram, which is similar to the tempera

DASYLab© National Instruments Ireland Resources Limited | 3-7X/Y ChartUse the x/y chart to display several data channel pairs as xy-curves or as vecto

Chapter 3 Visualizing Measurements3-8 | dasylab.comDigital MeterUse the digital meter to display the values of the connected data channels numerically

DASYLab© National Instruments Ireland Resources Limited | 3-9By default the bar graph displays the current value. However, like the digital meter or t

Chapter 3 Visualizing Measurements3-10 | dasylab.comSliderUse the slider to generate varying signals manually with a Scroll bar, a Slider or a Rotary

LEGO, the LEGO logo, WEDO, and MINDSTORMS are trademarks of the LEGO Group. ©2013 The LEGO Group.TETRIX by Pitsco is a trademark of Pitsco, Inc.©2013F

DASYLab© National Instruments Ireland Resources Limited | 3-11Figure 3-5. Screen Layout with Display Windows and Switches To create a display window

Chapter 3 Visualizing Measurements3-12 | dasylab.comalso can enter a name for the layout which DASYLab displays in the selection list on the function

DASYLab© National Instruments Ireland Resources Limited | 3-13computer, you must also copy the graphic files into the respective folder. If you select

© National Instruments Ireland Resources Limited | 4-14Hardware SetupDASYLab supports many standard measurement and control boards and various interfa

Chapter 4 Hardware Setup4-2 | dasylab.comFigure 4-1. Available Packages in the ConfiguratorYou can import packages which you receive from the manufac

DASYLab© National Instruments Ireland Resources Limited | 4-3DLL DriverDLL drivers have their own interface and can run parallel with other hardware d

Chapter 4 Hardware Setup4-4 | dasylab.comthe measurement. To open the help for the default driver open Help»Hardware.InterfacesIn DASYLab you also can

DASYLab© National Instruments Ireland Resources Limited | 4-5Using the OPC-DA ClientUse the OPC interface (OLE for Process Control) to connect DASYLab

Chapter 4 Hardware Setup4-6 | dasylab.comOutput module outputs values or character strings which the module reads from strings and variable. The modul

© National Instruments Ireland Resources Limited | 5-15Controlling MeasurementsThe data flow and the sequence of the modules in the worksheet determin

THE USER OR APPLICATION DESIGNER IS ULTIMATELY RESPONSIBLE FOR VERIFYING AND VALIDATING THE SUITABILITY OF NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS PRODUCTS WHENEVER NATI

Chapter 5 Controlling Measurements5-2 | dasylab.comControlling with ActionsThe Action module executes event-related, module-specific functions such as

DASYLab© National Instruments Ireland Resources Limited | 5-3real-time. The synchronization is like an additional invisible data channel which uses co

Chapter 5 Controlling Measurements5-4 | dasylab.comworksheet and runs the measurement until the variable VAR_102 receives a new value. DASYLab loads t

DASYLab© National Instruments Ireland Resources Limited | 5-5Global Strings and VariablesDASYLab provides 999 variables and strings in order to read,

Chapter 5 Controlling Measurements5-6 | dasylab.comGlobal Variables and Strings»Export Global Variable/String to export the variables and strings into

© National Instruments Ireland Resources Limited | 6-16Programming Your Own ModulesIn DASYLab, modules are function units. The module is the container

Chapter 6 Programming Your Own Modules6-2 | dasylab.compredefined settings. For example, you cannot load a script for an output module into an input m

DASYLab© National Instruments Ireland Resources Limited | 6-3the dependencies between the settings, for example, in order to first select the Color an

Chapter 6 Programming Your Own Modules6-4 | dasylab.comDASYLab creates a text file with the filename extension .py. In the module you can no longer ed

DASYLab© National Instruments Ireland Resources Limited | 6-5the browser. If you insert the module in the worksheet and open the module dialog box, th

© National Instruments Ireland Resources Limited | viiContentsAbout This ManualConventions ...

© National Instruments Ireland Resources Limited | 7-17Configuring the Data FlowDASYLab transports data in the worksheet in blocks from module to modu

Chapter 7 Configuring the Data Flow7-2 | dasylab.comNote The smaller the ratio between block size and sampling rate is, the more often the worksheet g

DASYLab© National Instruments Ireland Resources Limited | 7-3Optimizing Processing TimeThe overall operating performance of DASYLab depends on the har

© National Instruments Ireland Resources Limited | A-1AThe Module GroupsTwelve module groups with related modules contain the DASYLab functions. The a

Appendix A The Module GroupsA-2 | dasylab.comThe sub-folder RS232 contains the modules RS232 Input and RS232 Output to exchange data and text with ext

DASYLab© National Instruments Ireland Resources Limited | A-3trigonometric functions for data channels and the Differentiation/Integration module diff

Appendix A The Module GroupsA-4 | dasylab.comThe Check Reference Curve checks whether data channels lie within a tolerance range. The Pulse Analysis m

DASYLab© National Instruments Ireland Resources Limited | A-5The Electro Technical Characteristics module performs calculations from two incoming curr

Appendix A The Module GroupsA-6 | dasylab.comThe Display Modules GroupThe display modules group contains modules for displaying measurement values and

DASYLab© National Instruments Ireland Resources Limited | A-7The Data Reduction Modules GroupThe data reduction modules group contains modules for red

Contentsviii | dasylab.comSelecting Input Modules ... 3-9Switch ...

Appendix A The Module GroupsA-8 | dasylab.comThe Special Modules GroupThe special modules group contains various modules with special functions such a

© National Instruments Ireland Resources Limited | B-1BTips and TricksThe following tips and tricks are designed to help you create and process worksh

Appendix B Tips and TricksB-2 | dasylab.comDASYLab does not save the measurement board settings with the worksheet. If you made changes to your board

DASYLab© National Instruments Ireland Resources Limited | B-3Only 16 branches on a data channel?I need to use a channel more than 16 times. How can I

© National Instruments Ireland Resources Limited | I-1IndexAAction, 5-2Asynchronous, 5-3Print layout, 3-12Synchronous, 5-2Analog meter, 3-8BBar graph,

IndexI-2 | dasylab.comFFAQ, B-1FIFO graph, 1-10FIFO list, 1-10Formula Interpreter, 1-5Formula interpreter, 1-5Formulas, 1-6Full-screen mode, 3-12GGene

DASYLab© National Instruments Ireland Resources Limited | I-3OODBC/SQL interface, 4-5OPC interface, 4-5PPolar plot, 3-7Precision, 7-3Predefined settin

DASYLab© National Instruments Ireland Resources Limited | ixAppendix AThe Module GroupsThe Input/Output Modules Group ...

© National Instruments Ireland Resources Limited | xiAbout This ManualUse this manual to learn how to run measurements and how to display measurement