Efficient Use

Strip Chart is optimized for real time operation. However, the larger your problem the more horsepower you will need. It is conceivable that you can run Strip Chart at 100Hz without any concerns regarding efficiency, but at higher sample rates more care needs to be taken to get things right. This section outlines some issues regarding efficiency.

Choose The Lowest Sample Rate For Your Problem

You should choose the lowest sample rate for your problem. Don't be concerned with oversampling, but if there is no reason to do so then you are just generating voluminous amounts of redundant data.

Turn Off Unused Curves

Use the Strip Chart Inspector Editor to turn off unused curves, even if they are flat at zero. This will not only save on resources, but will also allow the graph to autoscale better.

Turn Off Unused Acquisition Channels

Use the Device Inspector Editor to turn off unused channels. Sampling a channel usually causes a delay in the hardware device itself.

Choose The Right Buffer Length

You should keep the buffer length at the default unless you need to store more points. At 50,000 samples per second the default buffer will only store about 17 seconds of data. That may not be enough for your situation, or may be just fine. For example, if you are interested in spectrum information only then the default buffer size is fine. If you use the Derived Inspector Editor to resample the data into bins for example then the resulting data rate will be lower and you will be able to store more information.

Look At The Performance Meter

Use the Main Inspector Editor to see how your computer is performing. At 100Hz sample rate the bars should be short to none. At 50,000 samples per second the bars will be greater. If your system is overtaxed then a red "System Overload!" text will appear.

Run A Test Case

Run a test case before starting your actual data sampling. Make sure to do a full run. If you do something outside the operations of the test case then that can cause difficulty. For example, if you run a huge simulation while acquiring data then your computer may run out of free memory in which case things will grind to a halt and the acquisition will fail. Strip Chart is designed to provide as much data immediately while still buffering operations incase of some momentary loss of resource, but nothing can overcome a catastrophic abuse of resources.