The Systems Engineering group at NI has developed a set of data logging and monitoring example LabVIEW code for test cells and similar uses.  The example application is configuration-driven (point/click, drag/drop), and suitable for use with DAQmx, Fieldpoint, and custom (VI-based) I/O servers.  It illustrates a method for building LabVIEW DSC-based client/server systems as well as various styles of client displays.

The distribution for this example is too large to post on the community web site, so it has been posted at http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/epd/p/id/5363

To get started, read the information in the ReadMe files included in the docs folder of the project distribution.The example includes working code for acquiring, logging, and monitoring trend data using a distributed I/O system that uses any mix of the following components:

• National instruments DAQ boards (PCI/PXI and SCXI) configured using DAQmx Global Virtual Channels
• National Instruments Fieldpoint (FP) or compact Fieldpoint (cFP) I/O configured using NI Fieldpoint
• LabVIEW applications that deploy shared variables</li><li>Custom I/O servers for other I/O types

It requires the following support software:

• LabVIEW 8.2.1
• LabVIEW DSC Module 8.2.1
• The configuration management tool for LabVIEW
• The I/O Server Simulator (for demonstration)

The LabVIEW State Diagram Toolkit is not required, but is recommended if you want to modify the client or server state models.The example code includes the following features:

Server Configuration and control

Select data sources - browse network for DAQmx, Fieldpoint, and custom I/O server data            &nb sp;  Manage channel configuration - Import channel names and alarm limits from a spreadsheet           &n bsp;   Bind channels - associate physical I/O with user channel names (drag and drop)            &n bsp;    Manage alarm limits - interactive alarm limit editor            & nbsp;    Automatic DSC alarm engine configuration                Automatic DSC (Citadel) database logging control

Shared variable deployment

Client Configuration

Subscribe to server            & nbsp;  Paged displays           &nbsp ;        Import configuration from spreadsheet           &n bsp;        Edit configuration interactively                View alarm limits            & nbsp;  Set log file size limits and location

Display formats

Plot (Trend)                Map (current values overlaid on bitmap image)            & nbsp;  Tabular                Alarm summary and acknowledgement

Local data logging to text file

This example supports aggregate data rates typical for LabVIEW DSC.  It does not support waveform data.To learn more about the architecture used in this example, please see the document Theory of Operation.ppt, which is included in the docs folder of the source distribution.

Note: This was a learning project.  We are interested in getting your feedback so that we can expand and modularize the code for better reuse in the future.  We will answer questions as time allows, but our ability to provide individual support will be very limited.Other requirements:

The supporting software requirements are listed above and in the ReadMe files included with the source distribution.