DAQ Assistant verses DAQmx

[David-Baratheon]

Whats the advantages of acquiring data from the DAQmx block rather than using the DAQ assistant block? Are there pro's and con's to each? What is normally used in industry?

I've also noticed there are multiple methods for writing data to file and wondered what the proper method or pros and cons for this are?

[crossrulz · Accepted solution]

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@David-Baratheon wrote:

Whats the advantages of acquiring data from the DAQmx block rather than using the DAQ assistant block? Are there pro's and con's to each? What is normally used in industry?

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You have A LOT more control over the acquisition with the DAQmx API over the DAQ Assistant.  You can also make the code more efficient with the API.  Normal in industry to to avoid the DAQ Assistant

The only real advantage of the DAQ Assistant is that it is easier to set up your task.

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@David-Baratheon wrote:

I've also noticed there are multiple methods for writing data to file and wondered what the proper method or pros and cons for this are?

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Well, that just depends on your requirements.

Need human readable?  Go with a tab delimited text file or CSV.

Need to log a lot of data quickly?  Use a TDMS or binary file.  I tend to use the TDMS since it is well put together for DAQ and waveforms.

[Dennis_Knutson · Accepted solution]

The DAQ Assistant is fine for basic tasks and for initial testing but you have much more control and less overhead when you use the DAQmx functions that are also called by the assistant. There are things, such as the channel list, that you would need to edit the assistant and not afront panel control. Personally, I've never used the assistant in any released code.

There is not one 'proper' way to save data. You have binary options such as tdms that writes smaller files at higher speeds but are not human readable. You would use a plug-in to view them in Excel for example. You have ASCII text options that are viewable with something like notepad but take more storage space and are slower to write. Numerous other options so experiment.

[GerdW · Accepted solution]

Hi David,

you can find an excellent source of information on DAQmx here!