Creating and Editing Scales

You can use the DAQ Assistant to create and edit scales for your tasks and global virtual channels. You can use an NI-DAQmx Scale to specify a conversion from the prescaled units measured by a physical channel to the scaled units associated with your transducer or actuator. You can then associate this scale with one or more virtual channels.

Often, you do not need to create an NI-DAQmx Scale, because NI-DAQmx has explicit support for the most common transducers and actuators. For example, when creating an analog input temperature virtual channel, you can specify which type of transducer (such as a thermistor, RTD, or thermocouple) is used to make the measurement. However, if NI-DAQmx does not explicitly support your transducer or actuator, you can create an NI-DAQmx Scale that specifies how to convert from the prescaled units to the scaled units. Notice that the same NI-DAQmx Scale can be associated with multiple virtual channels. You do not need to create an NI-DAQmx Scale for each virtual channel if the scale is the same.

Creating Scales

Follow these steps to create new scales:

1. You can create a new scale in the following ways:
   • DAQ Assistant—Click the Scale icon and select Create New.
   • MAX—Right-click Scales in the configuration tree, and select New Scale. In the Create New window, select NI-DAQmx Scale.
   • LabVIEW—Place the DAQmx Scale Name control on the front panel. Right-click the control and select New Scale (DAQ Assistant).
2. When the Create Scale wizard launches, select the scale type and click Next.
3. Enter a name for your scale.
4. Click Finish to continue configuring your scale in the DAQ Assistant.
5. Click OK or Save Scale to save your scale to MAX.

Editing Scales

LabVIEW—Complete the following steps to edit a previously saved custom scale:

1. Place a DAQmx Scale Name control on the block diagram.
2. Select a custom scale you previously created and saved.
3. Right-click the control and choose Edit Scale (DAQ Assistant).
4. Modify the scale in the DAQ Assistant.
5. Click OK to save the changes.

MAX—Complete the following steps to edit a previously saved custom scale:

1. Expand Scales.
2. Click the scale you want to edit.
3. Modify the scale in the DAQ Assistant.
4. Click Save Scale when you are finished.