Measurement Computing UL for NI LabVIEW User Manual

Page 42

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Universal Library Virtual Instruments (VIs)

Analog Output VIs

Continuous

This option (True) can only be used with boards which support interrupt, DMA or

REP-INSW transfer methods. This option puts the VI in an endless loop. After it
outputs the specified (by Count) number of D/A values, it resets to the start of
DataArray and begins again. The only way to stop this operation is with
StopBg.VI.

Simultaneous

When this option is set (True) (if the board supports it and the appropriate switches

are set on the board) all of the D/A voltages will be updated simultaneously when
the last D/A in the scan is updated. This generally means that all the D/A values
will be written to the board, then a read of a D/A address causes all D/As to be
updated with new values simultaneously.

ExtClock

If this option (True) is used then conversions will be paced by the signal on the

external clock input line rather than by the internal pacer clock. Each conversion
will be triggered on the appropriate edge of the external clock input signal (refer to
the board-specific information). When this option is used the

Rate

argument is

ignored. The sampling rate is dependent on the trigger signal.

Options

for the board

will default to transfer types that allow the maximum conversion rate to be attained
unless otherwise specified.

Range

If the selected D/A board does not have a programmable range feature, this will be

ignored. Otherwise the gain can be set to any of the ranges that are supported by
the selected D/A board. See the "

Range

input values

" table on page 19 for valid

values. Refer to board-specific information contained in the Universal Library
User's Guide (available on our web site at

www.mccdaq.com/PDFmanuals/sm-ul-

user-guide.pdf

) for the list of ranges supported by each board.

Rate

(output)

Actual sampling rate in channel scans per second. This may be different from the

requested rate because of pacer limitations.

ErrCode

Error code returned from the Universal Library. Zero if no error occurred. Use the

ErrMsg VI to convert

ErrCode

into a readable string.

Context

Data structure containing information from a background operation. Some of the

information included is the board number, the data array, the array size, and the
initial status of the background operation.

Follow the steps below when wiring this VI:

1.

Start a background operation.

2.

GetStatus.VI checks for completion (boolean output called "Running").

3.

StopBg.VI terminates the operation, if not already done, and frees memory aliases.

4.

Data output from the background operation is passed to GetStatus.VI and StopBg.VI
via "Context", and can be wired from one or both of them for intermediate or final
actions, respectively.

The demo VIs illustrate this process effectively.

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