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APIcom Instruction Manual iDAS Configuration and Data Access
In Figure 4-1, the channels have been expanded to show all the parameters. The dialog box displays a
summary of the channels, including the channel name, the triggering event, and the maximum number
of records the channel stores. The parameter summary includes the parameter name and numeric units,
the sampling mode, the record set number, and the number of records actually downloaded from the
instrument. Since no data have been downloaded yet, the number of records is zero for all the
parameters.
4.4. Saving the iDAS Configuration
Saving the iDAS configuration of any instrument to disk is useful to maintain several different
measurement protocols (frequent data acquisition for trouble-shooting and engineering, long-term
averages for monitoring, etc.) or simply to keep a backup when replacing the firmware of the analyzer.
API provides standard and custom sample iDAS scripts at the APIcom website:
http://teledyne-api.com/software/apicom/sample_scripts.html
There are two ways to save the iDAS configuration. APIcom automatically stores the iDAS configuration
in its network configuration file when the configuration file is saved. This copy is not permanent. The
second way is to save the iDAS configuration as a text file on disk. When using the
button,
APIcom prompts for a file name. The default file name format is:
“<Instrument Name>-< Instrument Serial Number> iDAS Configuration.txt”
This name can be changed to any other file name. Once saved as a text file, it can be loaded by using
the
button or uploaded to the instrument by using APIcom ( ) or a simple terminal
program.
4.5. Modifying the iDAS Configuration
APIcom can only modify the iDAS configuration in AMX instruments with library revision 2.4 or higher.
This section assumes familiarity with configuring the iDAS in an instrument. Refer to the built-in iDAS
manual (Built-In iDAS Manual.doc) for more information on configuring the iDAS. APIcom facilitates
configuring the instrument’s iDAS in the following ways:
APIcom takes advantage of the larger area of the computer screen to display more of the iDAS
configuration than the instrument can on its instrument display.
APIcom validates the user’s inputs and verifies that the configuration is successfully sent to the
instrument. An error message is displayed on unsuccessful upload.
APIcom allows to load iDAS configurations stored on the computer and to send them to the instrument,
making it quick and easy to load the same configuration into multiple instruments.
APIcom can store many iDAS configurations on the computer, allowing a user to download different
configurations for different purposes.
To download the current configuration, click on
. To start a new, empty configuration, click on
. To start with a configuration that was previously saved, click on .
4.5.1. Adding or Modifying a Channel
A channel can be expanded to see its parameters by clicking on the “+” boxes next to the channel
names. A channel can also be expanded or collapsed by double-clicking on it. To add a new channel,
either click on
or right-click on any existing channel, which will bring up the context menu
shown below, and select New Channel. The maximum number of channels that can be configured is 20
per instrument. The maximum number of parameters in each channel is 10 and the maximum number of
data records in each channel is 64000. However, the A-series analyzers are limited by 64 KB data
memory, hence the average number of records (depending on the number of channels and parameters
and if the number of samples in a concentration average is recorded) is much lower, typically around
05499 Rev. A 4-4