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Publish Date: Jul 31, 2009


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What's New in LabVIEW SignalExpress

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Overview

NI LabVIEW SignalExpress is interactive measurement software for acquiring, analyzing, presenting, and logging data without programming. LabVIEW SignalExpress extends LabVIEW Express technology to an interactive environment to provide an easy to use, out-of-the-box software experience for data logging applications, with easy customization through configuration dialogues and drag-and-drop interfaces. The software provides a fast, simple way to configure data logging applications with tasks such as data visualization, analysis, and alarming in addition to the acquisition and logging of data. You also can generate LabVIEW graphical programming code with a single mouse click to scale and create more advanced, customizable applications.

Download a trial version of LabVIEW SignalExpress and try the new features out for yourself.

New Features in LabVIEW SignalExpress 2009

Environment Enhancements

“Add Display” Formatting Options


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When adding new displays, users can specify the format of the display by clicking the down arrow on the Add Display button. Users select from 17 formats including graph, gauge, LED, tank, chart, and more.

Data Display Environment Enhancements


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Users continue to get added flexibility to customize the UI by using the drag-and-drop layout arrangements, auto-hiding windows, and now the ability to easily remove displays.

Logging Improvements

Digital Logging


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Log both analog and now digital waveforms to TDMS files with the simple click of a button.

Included Install of TDM Excel Add-In


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Easily import TDMS logs into Microsoft Excel for basic graphing, math, and statistical analysis with the TDM Excel Add-In.

Steps

Favorites Palette


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If you often create projects that use the same steps, you can add the steps to the Favorites palette to save the step configuration and quickly access the step.

Continuous Quality Improvement

Bug Fixes

The LabVIEW SignalExpress 2009 release builds upon the value and benefits provided by the significant number of features added in versions 3.0 and 2.0 by providing significant quality improvements. As a result of the focus, an extensive number of bugs are addressed in LabVIEW SignalExpress 2009.

New Features in LabVIEW SignalExpress 3.0

Environment Enhancements

Operator Interface

The new operator interface lets you bind controls to step parameters and disable further editing of your project to ensure consistent results and further simplify user interaction.   Optionally set a password to prevent users from being able to edit step settings.

Drag-and-Drop Layout Arrangement

Customize your workspace by dragging and dropping views.  Any view, including the Project View, Channel View and Event Log, can be displayed as a floating window, docked to the side of the screen or displayed as a tab in center of the screen.

Channel View

The Channel View allows you to quickly and easily configure all of your hardware channels and shared variables.  Additionally channel configurations can be exported to Microsoft Excel and any changes made to the resulting spreadsheet can be imported back into the project.

 

Enhanced Cursors

Cursors can now be linked to other cursors on the same display or between cursors.  You can also export measurement values from the cursor legend to the Project View for use as inputs to step parameters.

 

More Flexible Features

Configure Run Dialog

Configure your project to run continuously, for a set number of iterations or for a specified amount of time.

 

Sequence Step

The new Sequence Step allows you to pause the execution of steps to allow multiple steps in the same project to use the same hardware.

Shared Variable support

Publish acquired data to shared variables for networked users to read or log data from other LabVIEW and LabVIEW Real-Time targets, including the new CompactRIO Scan Engine.

Improved Logging

Event Detection

Quickly locate the interesting points in your data by adding keystroke or signal-based events to your project.  LabVIEW SignalExpress saves the events in the log file along with an annotation on the graph display.


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New Start and Stop Conditions


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New triggers, scheduled start times, holdoff and restart behavior allow you to capture just the data you need.   Condition logic enables you to specify how SignalExpress processes multiple start or stop conditions.

More Alarm Actions

In addition to displaying a message or making a sound when an alarm occurs you now can generage a software trigger, create a snapshot or run a program.

Project Documentation enhancements


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View as a printed page or web layout, resize any object, undo and new toolbar buttons make it easier than ever to report your data directly from SignalExpress. 

 

New Features in LabVIEW SignalExpress 2.0

  • Data Logging
  • Channel View
    • The Channel View provides an integrated environment for viewing and configuring hardware channel information.
  • DAQ Assistant Integration
    • LabVIEW SignalExpress now supports full DAQ Assistant integration. The DAQ Assistant dialog boxes are fully integrated in the LabVIEW SignalExpress environment. When you install the DAQ Assistant, use the DAQmx Acquire and DAQmx Generate steps to acquire and generate signals from DAQ devices.
  • Project Documentation View
  • New Data Viewers
    • Several new data viewers, including tanks, thermometers and gauges, are available for viewing scalar and time-domain data. Right-click the Data View and select Switch to choose a display.
  • Work Areas
    • Use work areas to perform multiple LabVIEW SignalExpress operations from within the same project.
  • New Steps
    • Read Shared Variables step
    • Statistics step
    • Software Trigger step
  • Step Improvements
    • Time Averaging—The Time Averaging step now accepts scalar data as an input.
    • Histogram—The Histogram step now accepts scalar data as an input.
    • User step—The User step is now called the Run LabVIEW VI step. The Run LabVIEW VI step now supports LabVIEW 7.1 and later.
    • Formula (Scalar)—The Formula (Scalar) step is now called the Formula step. The Formula step now accepts waveform data as an input.
    • Limit Test—You now can perform actions on LabVIEW SignalExpress data depending on the result of the Limit Test step. Navigate to the Actions tab of the Limit Test configuration view to configure which actions LabVIEW SignalExpress takes when a signal fails or passes a limit test.
  • Grouping
    • You can use data grouping to analyze multiple data channels at once.
  • Options Dialog Box
    • Select Tools»Options to display the Options dialog box. Use the Options dialog box to configure various LabVIEW SignalExpress options.
  • Snapshots
    • Snapshots allow you to save a record of the current values of all step outputs in your project.

Learn More

 

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This tutorial (this "tutorial") was developed by National Instruments ("NI"). Although technical support of this tutorial may be made available by National Instruments, the content in this tutorial may not be completely tested and verified, and NI does not guarantee its quality in any way or that NI will continue to support this content with each new revision of related products and drivers. THIS TUTORIAL IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND AND SUBJECT TO CERTAIN RESTRICTIONS AS MORE SPECIFICALLY SET FORTH IN NI.COM'S TERMS OF USE (http://ni.com/legal/termsofuse/unitedstates/us/).