Test configuration
Input channels
Input channels define what transducer and sensor data should be captured in a test run. Available input channels depend on the connected hardware and imported databases. The channel grid interface displays the channels defined for the current setup. Color-shaded column headers such as Input mode and Scaling mode can be clicked to display configuration option columns.
See Grid interface for information about showing and hiding columns.
A list may be sorted by a column's contents, including the Collect column in Test configuration. However, while sorting by the Collect column in the All input channels tab, Computed channels will be sorted separately, below other input channels.
The All channels view displays generic and scaling parameters for all defined channels including Computed channels.
TIP
In the All channels view, change the order of channel rows manually by dragging and dropping selected channels.
Each channel type has its own tab view which displays the specific parameters for channels of that type.
On a channels tab, a number shows for total channels in the list.
To filter the channels listed, click the Search icon in the Quick link buttons. Enter information in the search bar. The list will show channels containing the entered information. A red number also shows on the tab, which is the number of channels resulting from the search.
While a search is active, the Search icon will change color.
Clear the search bar to end filtering.

Many parameters are common across all channels and are displayed in the All channels tab:
- Connection: A unique hardware identifier created by the system.
- Input pins: On a single connector, there are 4 input pins available. Most sensor input modes use only one pin; however, the quadrature encoder mode uses 2 input pins.
- TEDS: For MX module channels with TEDS sensors connected, an icon is displayed with the TEDS status. Not in edit dialog. See Configuring TEDS sensors for more information.
- SDB: For MX module channels with HBM sensor databases applied, an icon is displayed with the SDB status. Not in edit dialog.
- SM: For Smart modules connected to a channel, a status is displayed. Not in edit dialog.
- Reading: Current value of the channel. Show the readings by selecting the desired channels and clicking
Live update. Not in edit dialog.
- Units: For most channel types, the user can enter the physical units as desired; however, for some channel types (i.e., most temperature channels, and any bridge channel that uses the Strain gage scaling mode), the user can only select an option provided in the drop down list box.
- Name: The channel name must be unique and contain valid characters (invalid characters are single and double quotes, '\', '@', '#', '&', '<' and '>'). Invalid channel names are 'true' and 'false' (case sensitive).
- Description: Enter an optional detailed description of the channel.
- Sample rate: Select the desired channel sample rate. If the sample rate changes, all dependent computed channels and DataModes™ are changed automatically.
- Measurand: Enter an optional measurement type.
- Input mode: Select the digital input mode from the options presented. In the channel edit dialog, a wiring diagram for the selected input mode is available for reference.
- Data type: The format of the channel data output (read only).
- Collect: Select the Collect checkbox to write the channel data to the SIE data file during a test run.
- Filter type: For applicable channels, select the type of filter for the channel to None, Linear phase (FIR), Butterworth (FIR), Butterworth (IIR) or Bessel (IIR).
- Filter frequency: Set the frequency of the selected filter. The options vary based on the filter type.
- Decimals: Select the default decimal places for channel displays. Use the “Auto” option to apply the settings defined in the User Preferences. See User preferences > General > Decimal point handling for more information.
- Network node: A CPU serial number shows for a module or camera channel's network node.
- Custom column information: For each column to be used, enter a unique name for the column header. Select either the “Text” or the “Numeric” sorting option.
- Range min / Range max: Enter the desired full scale range min and max values in physical (engineering) units. For all channels, they are used as the default min and max bounds for histogram DataModes.
- Alarm min / Alarm max: Enter the desired values for min and/or max alarms as a physical units value or as a % of Range min/max value.
- Warning min / Warning max: Enter the desired values for min and/or max warnings as a physical units value or as a % of Range min/max value.

There are two methods to add an input channel from the Input channels page.
- Click
Add to add a new blank channel.
- Duplicate the parameters of an existing channel by selecting a channel and clicking
Copy to....
Select the desired channels from discovered hardware on the network.
Select the check box next to a source branch to display its available channels. The channels are displayed in alphabetical order (by connector) and grouped by source. A channel already added to the test setup is not displayed.
To add a channel to the setup, select the check box next to the channel or group of channels and click OK.

Select the desired channel and click Edit to edit the channel parameters using the edit channel dialog.
Alternately, edit input channel parameters directly in the channel grid. Select the All channels tab to edit generic parameters and the channel type tab to edit channel specific parameters.
If a channel name is changed, all references to the channel from computed channels or DataModes™ change automatically.
The Edit channel dialog windows provide a convenient way to focus on configuring a single channel. While the basic layout of all Edit dialog windows is the same, each one is tailored to the specific applicable parameters and specific available control option on a per channel basis.
To disable auto start of charts in the Single channel editor, see User preferences, Test configuration. In the Single channel editor, click on the tabs to switch among Strip chart display, the Spectrum chart display, the Digital meter display or the Wiring diagrams as desired. Following are some pertinent notes on usage.
- Click on the wiring diagram for a larger view.
- Display units can be changed between Electrical (source) and Engineering (physical) if the channel is calibrated; otherwise the display units are Electrical.
- After making changes to the parameters directly or indirectly via the Shunt scaling or Two point scaling tasks, click the Apply button once to see the effect of the changes on the channel data using the Strip chart, Spectrum chart or Digital meter. Multiple clicks on Apply may hinder system response.
- To capture data, enter a value in the Time field up to 7200 seconds to capture all messages in that time period, or enter a value in the Number field up to 10000 to capture that number of messages. Click on the Capture button to start the capture.
NOTE
If values are entered for both fields, the capture will stop when either limit is satisfied. If no value is entered in the Time or Number field, 10000 messages may be captured. To stop capture before either limit is reached, click the Close button. After capture, the number of captured samples shows in parentheses after Value at the top of the column.
- Captured data can viewed, searched, filtered and exported.
- Pull down menus allow the Time or Value column to be hidden (one must stay visible) and contents sorted (ascending or descending).
- To find data among captured samples, enter text in the Search field. Search field content is highlighted in the message Time and Value fields.
- To filter data, enter text in the Filter field. Only the message rows with matching text in the Time or Value fields is shown. Clear the Filter field to see all captured message rows. At the top of the Value column, the number of filtered message shows in parentheses with the number of captured messages, such as (173/3004).
- To export data, select message rows with the mouse or keyboard and click the Export button. Selected messages are saved as a tab delimited Text file to facilitate using Microsoft Excel (named “capture.txt” unless renamed by the user). The number of messages exported shows in parentheses at the top of the text document. Note that search results are not highlighted in the exported file.
- A button is gray if an option (such as Zero or Shunt…) is not available for a channel.
- Click OK to close the single channel editor. Click on Save to save the changes to the test setup file.

To simplify input channel configuration, SomatXR MX modules support TEDS sensors. When an MX channel with a TEDS sensor is added to the test setup, the channel parameters are configured based on the TEDS information, which is indicated by the TEDS sync icon () in the TEDS column of the channels grid.
Channel parameters can be manually edited, which is indicated by the TEDS edited icon () in the TEDS column.

To apply sensor configurations from imported HBM sensor databases, first expand the Sensors panel. The Sensors panel contains the imported sensor databases and their sensor definitions. For very large databases, it may take several seconds to display the database contents for the first time.
Drag and drop the sensor definition from the Sensors panel onto the desired channel.
When a sensor definition is successfully applied to a channel, this is indicated by the SDB sync icon ()
)
Sync SDB.
NOTE
Sensor database parameters can be applied to TEDS sensors. However, if the channel is re-synced to its TEDS parameters, the sensor database reference is removed.

To configure a channel for sensor scaling, first set the Scaling mode in the channel editor dialog or channel gridscreenshot)
Depending on the mode selected, different scaling parameters must be specified to define the scaling.
Sensor scaling mode | Scaling parameters |
---|---|
Defined slope intercept | Slope Intercept |
Defined zero span | Electrical zero Electrical span Physical span |
Defined two point | Electrical 1 Physical 1 Electrical 2 Physical 2 |
Experimental two point | See Experimental two point scaling |
Internal shunt resistor | See Internal shunt resistor scaling |
Defined sensitivity factor | Sensitivity factor |
Strain gage | Strain gage factor Bridge factor |

To copy the properties from one channel to another, select the channel to be copied and click Copy.
Select the parameters to copy. The parameters depend on the selected channel type. In addition, parameters hidden in the grid view do not display in the copy dialog. Click OK to copy the selected parameters.
Select the target channel and click Paste to paste the copied parameters into the selected channel. Only parameters that exist in the target channel are pasted. For example, DIO parameters cannot be pasted into analog channels.

Select the desired channel or channels and click Remove. Removing channels referenced by computed channels or DataModes results in an error. Input channels cannot be recovered after removal.

Sometimes it is useful to change the hardware to which a group of channels connects. For example, after importing setup configuration file, using the same setup after swapping hardware or moving a transducer to another connector.
To change the device or connector, select a single channel or multiple channels and click Change device.
To change the device, enter or select a value in the New Device column. To change the channel connector, select a value in the New connector column. Click OK to save the changes.
CAUTION
Attempting to supply inappropriate values for the device name results in an error and prevents the test from running.

To view a digital display of the current channel values, select one or more channels and click Digital Meter.
Click Freeze to pause the reading
NOTE
Digital meters cannot be displayed while a test is running.

Zeroing a channel adds an offset, making the channel value as close as possible to the user defined zero target. The default zero target is 0.
Select one or more channels and click Zero.
NOTE
In the single channel editor, the Mode in Input channel zero parameters must be set to Interactive only or Normal Test Starts for a channel to be zeroed. By default, normally applicable channels such as bridges and encoders are set to this mode. Other channel types must be set manually if zeroing is required.
Click ZERO to measure the current channel data value, and adjust the cumulative zero offset which is stored in the offset in Input channel zero parameters. Click CLEAR ZERO to clear any previous zero offsets. After zeroing is complete, be sure to save the test setup.
NOTE
It is recommended to select the Use system defined sensor scaling filters option in the System preferences to minimize the effects of noise on the accuracy of scaling measurements.

Before running a test, many input sensors must be scaled. Define sensor scaling parameters directly in the Sensor Scaling grid in the Test Configuration section. Use shunt scaling for modules with a shunt resistor and applicable eDAQXR/eDAQXR-lite layers. Before starting the shunt scaling task, define all pertinent parameters for the bridge configuration, including the Shunt resistor and Shunt polarity. See Internal shunt resistor scaling for more information.

Use the experimental two point scaling option to define the two point parameters based on experimental measurements. See Experimental two point scaling for more information.

A column with a channel's calibration date may show in the grid. The calibration date format is "yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss" in UTC. See Calibration options for more information.