Beginners guide for NI I/O Trace

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sast
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Beginners guide for NI I/O Trace

Post by sast »

This guide is for configuring and using the program NI I/O Trace. This program can be used to capture the communication between the PC and the measurement equipment, if the National Instruments GPIB board is used. In the past this program was named NI Spy (http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/ ... DF006EEE72).
This guide is only for the NI I/O Trace program. If an Agilent Technologies or Keysight Technologies GPIB card is used, the Agilent IO Monitor should be used to capture the communication.

After installation of the NI software (488.2 http://joule.ni.com/nidu/cds/view/p/id/3786/lang/en and VISA http://joule.ni.com/nidu/cds/view/p/id/3823/lang/en which contains the NI I/O Trace) open the program:
1.Open NI-trace.png
1.Open NI-trace.png (14.89 KiB) Viewed 17333 times
After opening start with the configuration the appropriate settings, with Tools -> Options...
2. Open tools - Options NI-trace.png
2. Open tools - Options NI-trace.png (27.15 KiB) Viewed 17333 times
Change the settings from the General Tab to the following settings (required):
3.1 Options - General tab NI-trace.png
3.1 Options - General tab NI-trace.png (23.23 KiB) Viewed 17333 times
This tab contains mandatory settings for your capture files. It is most important to change all these settings very carefully , otherwise your captures could be completely useless.

Change the settings from the Logging tab to specify a location where the captures should be saved and if the should be split (optional):
3.2 Options - Logging tab NI-trace.png
3.2 Options - Logging tab NI-trace.png (22.87 KiB) Viewed 17333 times
If you use the 'Limit File Size', make sure that you have unchecked the 'Delete files older than the most recent' option.

After that, please check the other Options tabs (View and Error), to make sure you are using the correct settings;
3.3 Options - View Selection tab NI-trace.png
3.3 Options - View Selection tab NI-trace.png (21.06 KiB) Viewed 17333 times
3.4 Options - Error Action tab NI-trace.png
3.4 Options - Error Action tab NI-trace.png (29.12 KiB) Viewed 17333 times
Now you have configured the NI I/O trace, the capture will automatically start when starting program. (This setting has effect after restarting the program once.)
To check if the capturing is indeed turned on this can be verified by reading the name from the main window, it should say [capture on]. If it isn't automatically started (or you prefer to start it manually) use the button with the green arrow to start capturing;
4. Start Capturing NI-trace.png
4. Start Capturing NI-trace.png (20.14 KiB) Viewed 17333 times
During capturing it is needed to perform tests or have communication with device(s) to be able to capture any communication. So, once you have started a new and empty NI I/O trace capture start the application you want to monitor and you will see that the first lines are already captured by I/O trace. It should look something like this screenshot. Now, perform the necessary test(s) or check(s) that are generating problems or needed for support. If you have more then one issue, it's often desirable to start with a new capture for each issue.
4.2 During capturing NI-trace.png
4.2 During capturing NI-trace.png (31.96 KiB) Viewed 17304 times
Only after the capturing is stopped it is possible to save your capture. To stop capturing use the button with the red circle;
5. Stop Capturing NI-trace.png
5. Stop Capturing NI-trace.png (20.43 KiB) Viewed 17333 times
Then the main screen should say [capture off].
The capture can now be saved to a *.trace file, and be e-mailed to radimation-support@raditeq.com.

When the capturing is automatically started when the program is launched, it is never be forgotten to turn it on...
Now it is easy to time your start of a capture, by simply launching the program. After capturing it can be stopped, saved and closed so that a new capture directly could be started when needed.
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joro
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Re: Beginners guide for NI I/O Trace / NI Spy

Post by joro »

Since RadiMation version 2016.1, we have integrated RadiLog in the RadiMation software, which is a very nice integrated tool that replaces NI I/O trace and NI Spy.
We strongly recommend to use the RadiLog tool.
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