GEN DAQ API  4.0
Controlling GEN Series tethered Mainframes
Introduction

Introduction

Introduction

Welcome to the GEN DAQ API help file.
The GEN DAQ API can be used to control the HBM GEN Series tethered mainframes without using Perception.
Perception is a Microsoft® Windows® based application used for controlling all HBM GEN Series mainframes.
These mainframes can even run unattended, in practice the GEN DAQ API will most often be used to control the mainframe.

The controlling software will take care of the following basic tasks:

With this new version the command set has been extended but not all settings can be set, for specific settings Perception is needed. The command set will be extended in the future.
With this version it is possible to extensively use a mainframe and its capabilities.
It is possible to full fill many use cases as asked by system integrators.
The EtherCAT fieldbus can for example be used to produce customized real time calculations.

The interface is supported on both Microsoft® Windows® and Linux based operating systems.

High-level system overview:


























Remarks

  • It is not possible to move/copy recordings from the local mainframe storage to a PC storage location via the GEN DAQ API. If you want to do this you have to enable the remote access to the internal disk. This can be done using Perception via the Mainframe Settings dialog. In this help file you can find how to do this. Look for GEN DAQ Remote Access item.
  • The GEN DAQ API is supported by the following mainframes: GEN3i, GEN3t, GEN7i, GEN7tA, GEN7i and GEN2tB
  • Recordings can’t be made via the GEN DAQ API on the GEN3i, GEN7i and GEN7i as these mainframes don’t have local storage.
  • FieldBus alike data streaming is only supported using tethered mainframes and does not function when used on integrated mainframes.


Intended audience

The GEN DAQ API is designed to be used by C programmers.
This documentation assumes you understand the Perception software and the basic acquisition terminology.
Understanding acquisition terminology is vital to understanding digital recordings: trigger, sample rate, pre-/post trigger, etc..

Various GEN DAQ API procedures

Create and Save various configurations

The following steps show you how GEN Mainframe configurations can be created, saved and restored.
Perception is needed for creating the various GEN Mainframe configurations.
GEN DAQ API is used to get those configurations from the GEN mainframe and store them at a local disk.

















































































































Restore a saved configuration

The following steps show you how a saved configuration can be restored into the GEN Mainframe using the GEN DAQ API .
Perception is not needed for this!.









































Data acquisition

The following steps describe how to acquire data using the GEN Series mainframe and your GEN DAQ API client program
The recorded data will be saved in a pNRF file, this file is saved while recording on the internal storage of the GEN Mainframe.
It is assumed that the GEN Mainframe has been pre-configured with continuous recording mode and will therefore require a stop command.

If remote access to the mainframe internal storage is enabled and the recording has stopped, the pNRF file can be transferred via Windows file sharing.
Alternatively, Perception can be used to transfer the pNRF file when remote access to the mainframe internal storage is disabled.