Page 1233 - The Mechatronics Handbook

FIGURE 50.8 Example of graphical programming of data-logging applications with National Instruments LabVIEW.

network connectivity into your data-logging application, a closed turnkey software application can make
that difficult. On the other hand, there are turnkey software applications that provide methods for
customization with popular application development tools. These customizable logging software packages
provide the best of both worlds, allowing you to get up and running quickly with your logging application,
and also giving you a method for integrating more advanced functionality at a later date.
Application development tools are the other option available for developing PC-based data-logging
systems. Development tools can range from text-based programming languages to graphical program-
ming environments. Figure 50.8 is an example of the software code for a data-logging application developed
in a graphical programming environment. Development tools allow you to build your own customized
data-logging application that does exactly what you need. Application development tools give you the
abilities to modify your application as your needs change, integrate customized analysis and report
capabilities with your logging application, and fully automate your data-logging system.
When developing data-logging applications, it is advisable to choose a development environment with
productivity features that enable you to create powerful PC-based logging systems. Some features to look
for when evaluating application development tools are:
• Wide range of graphical user interface components. Developing user interface components, such as
graphs, displays, and controls, from scratch is extremely time consuming. You should choose a
development environment that contains high quality user interface components.
• Tight integration with measurement hardware. It is critical that you use software designed to work
with your measurement hardware. Not only does proper software integration result in significantly
shorter development times, but it also helps ensure you get measurements you can trust.
• Analysis functions. One of the primary reasons for custom developing a data-logging software
application is to integrate advanced analysis functions. A good application development environ-
ment will provide a wide range of analysis functions to handle almost any need.
• Network connectivity. In today’s networked environment, the ability to connect your data-logging
application to the Web can be very important. Your application development software should
provide tools to make publishing results to the network a trouble-free process.
• Report generation. Your application development environment should either allow you to generate
reports automatically, or allow programmatic control of external report generation packages.
The choice between turnkey software and development tools depends on the complexity of your data-

logging application and the amount of customization required. With either choice, it is important to use
a software vendor that specializes in connecting measurements to computers and that provides high
quality service and support.

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