Using Step Execution Dependencies in a Stimulus/Response System

If you want to create a project that measures the response of a system to a stimulus, use a DAQmx Generate step to stimulate the system and a DAQmx Acquire step to acquire the response of the system to the stimulus. To get a valid measurement, execute the DAQmx Acquire step at the same time or after the DAQmx Generate step starts the generation.

If you want to start the generation and the acquisition at the same time, you can establish a trigger dependency between the DAQmx Generate and the DAQmx Acquire steps by sharing a trigger between the steps.

If you want to start the generation before the acquisition, place a checkmark in the Start this step after checkbox on the Execution control page of the Step Setup tab of the acquisition step. When you run the project, the acquisition step does not execute until after the generation step begins executing. If you want the acquisition step to wait on a step other than the previous generation step, select the step you want to wait for in the Step to wait for pull-down menu.

If you want to account for settling times between the execution of dependent steps, you can use the pre-execution delay field on the Execution control page of the Step Setup tab to specify a minimum amount of time to wait between the execution of the steps.