Finite Measurement

The Finite Measurement sample project acquires a finite measurement and provides options for exporting the measurement to disk. This sample project is designed as a state machine that can perform the following actions:

Initializing hardware and the user interface (Initialize state)
Handling user interactions (Wait for Event state)
Updating the user interface (Update UI state)
Configuring the application (Configure state)
Acquiring data from hardware (Acquire state)
Loading data from a .tdms file (Load Data state)
Saving data to a .tdms file (Save Data state)
Exporting data to a tab-delimited text file (Export Data state)
Clearing data from the graph (Clear Data state)
Applying custom analysis to the data (Analyze state)
Copying an image of the graph to the clipboard (Copy Graph state)
Stopping the application and saving your settings to disk (Stop state)

System Requirements

LabVIEW Base, Full, or Professional Development System. This sample project is designed for use with NI-DAQmx, an instrument driver, or other driver software.

Project Diagram

Use Cases

The Finite Measurement sample project is an application that provides separate options for the user to acquire data, log it, export it, and perform certain other actions related to the acquired data, one action at a time.

Running this Sample Project

In the Project Explorer window, open and run Main.vi.
Click Acquire. The program simulates an acquisition of data.
Click the other front panel buttons to explore the sample project.

Customizing this Sample Project

To add data acquisition code, complete the following steps:
1. Add hardware refnums to HW Configuration.ctl. For example, you could add DAQ task references here.
2. Modify Acquire Data from Hardware.vi to initialize the hardware device and acquire data using the refnum you added. For example, you could use the DAQ Assistant or Instrument I/O Assistant.
To modify how this application saves and loads data, modify Save Data.vi and Load Data.vi. For example, you could modify these VIs to save and load from a binary file instead of a .tdms file.
To modify how this application analyzes acquired data, modify Statistical Analysis.vi.
To modify how this application exports data, modify Export Data.vi. For example, you could export the data to a CSV or XML file instead of a tab-delimited file.
To modify how this application copies the graph to the clipboard, modify Copy Graph to Clipboard.vi. For example, you could copy the image as an EPS file or save the image directly to disk instead of copying a BMP file to the clipboard.

Related Information

Refer to the LabVIEW Help, available by selecting Help»LabVIEW Help from LabVIEW, for information about LabVIEW concepts or objects used in this template. You also can use the Context Help window to learn basic information about LabVIEW objects as you move the cursor over each object. To display the Context Help window in LabVIEW, select Help»Show Context Help.

This sample project is based on the Simple State Machine template. Refer to the Simple State Machine template and its documentation, available from the Create Project dialog box, for information about how this template works.

Refer to ni.com for a developer walkthrough of the Simple State Machine template.

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