Table Of Contents

DAQ Plot ► Preferences ► General ► Export

The export attributes defines how data gets exported to other applications. The export format is tab delimited with columns being index, seconds and amplitude channels and rows being sample index. The pane shown below is used to set what gets exported.

These settings get used by the Export facilities as well as DAQ Command.

Export Channels

Defines which elements get output to tab-delimited text output formats. The options are index, second and channel values. The seconds can be output in relative values (0 being the first sample time), absolute seconds since 1/1/1970, or Full Date format which is a Gregorian date format. The time format is also used by the Export facilities and the Channel table.

Stdout Channels

Defines which channels output to stdout, which can then be used as input to DAQ Command. By selecting only the channels you are interested in you can minimize the amount of output processed by the DAQ Command.

Command Line Options

• Log to system console: If checked then a log of all text messages will be directed to the system console in addition to the DAQ Plot console, otherwise those text messages will only appear on the DAQ Plot console. This is good for making a permanent log of events.

• Output to stdout: If checked then the Export Channels (seconds and amplitude values) will output to stdout in addition to the graph and other UI locations. This must be selected for use with the DAQ Command.

• Output to data repository: If checked then the acquired data is stored to the internal buffers of DAQ Plot. Keep this on during normal use, but turn it off if configuring for DAQ Command.

• CLI Type: If "Single Shot" is selected then the DAQ Command will only execute one iteration of an acquisition. If "Continuous" is selected then the DAQ Command will output at the sample interval defined in DAQ Plot. That sample interval value is shown in the main window as well as the Data preference tab.

Recording State Channel Index

Sometimes it is convenient to have an external source control the recording of data. For example, a manual button for turning on and off acquisition. The idea is to get an actual hardware toggle switch (like a low power light switch) so you can manually turn recording on and off, just like a light bulb. In addition, such a feature can be used in conjunction with sensor feedback, so for instance if something reaches a certain temperature then acquisition can turn on. The idea of using a hardware switch and not the computer screen seems to be better accepted because the switch can be located next to a machine with sensors and is easy to understand for operators. In addition, such a feature is indispensable for high sample rates where manually turning recording on and off fast enough is impossible.

The Recording State Channel Index defines which analog input channel is used for the purpose described above. If the voltage for that channel is equal or greater than one then recording is on, otherwise it is off. The Recording State Channel Index pop up button defines this channel. The default selection is "Not Used" meaning that all analog input channels are used to record voltage data (hence there is no recording state feature). When a channel index number is selected then the corresponding analog input channel is used for the mentioned purpose. Note that the signal unit for this feature is voltage, not calibrated amplitude. Also note that while recording is off, data acquisition is still on. This is needed so DAQ Plot can determine when to turn recording back on according to the value of the voltage on the recording state channel.

Periodic Output Of Graph

If on, the graph presented by DAQ Plot will be written to disk according to the following parameters:
• Output Type: If set to JPEG then a JPEG image will be written. Otherwise no output will be written.

• Period: Defines the period in seconds to save the graph output. For example if set to 60 then the graph will be written every minute to the specified Full path.

• Full path: The absolute path on the file system of the computer DAQ Plot runs on to save the image. The directory of this path must exist and you should specify it as an absolute path (with a leading slash) and also specify the file name with extension jpg.

  The intended use is to output for web distribution so the Full path should be in the Document root of your web server configuration. However, the graph can be written anywhere accessible to the computer.