Instruments

Use the Instruments section on the Pin Map Tab to specify the type of instruments required to execute the test program and the name and attributes of each instrument. You can right-click any item in the section you want to edit and use the context menu to complete common tasks.

Choose one of the following options to add an instrument to the pin map file:

• Click <Add Instruments Here> to display the Instruments pane, and click the button of the instrument type you want to add.
• Right-click <Add Instruments Here> and select the instrument type you want to add from the context menu.

The Pin Map Editor automatically adds the instrument to the Instruments section. Select an instrument in the Instruments section to display the Instruments pane, where you can edit the attributes of the instrument.

You can also cut, copy, and paste instruments, or add comments in the Instruments pane. Use the Comment button to specify a comment for the selected instrument. Comments display beneath the instrument they modify.

The Digital Pattern Editor supports the following instrument types and instrument attributes:

• Digital Pattern — Defines an NI-Digital Pattern instrument.
  • Name — Name of the instrument, as defined in Measurement & Automation Explorer (MAX).
  • Number of Channels — Number of channels available on the instrument.
  • Group — Name of the group that contains the instrument. By default, the Pin Map Editor sets this attribute to Digital when you add NI-Digital Pattern instruments to the pin map file. When you use the same group name for all NI-Digital Pattern instruments, the Digital Pattern Editor combines all digital pattern instruments from the same chassis into a single session. To create multiple NI-Digital Pattern sessions, use a unique group name for each set of digital pattern instruments for which you want to create a session.
    Note You only can group digital pattern instruments of the same model. For example, you can group two PXIe-6570s but not a PXIe-6570 and PXIe-6571. The instruments must be in the same chassis.
• DCPower — Defines an NI-DCPower instrument.
  • Name — Name of the instrument, as defined in NI Measurement & Automation Explorer (MAX).
  • Number of Channels — Number of channels available on the instrument.
  • Channel Group Name/Channel(s) table— Lists the channel groups and the channels assigned to each group. By default, the Pin Map Editor creates one channel group containing all instrument channels. Use the plus (+) or minus (-) buttons to add or remove channel groups.
    Note A channel group is a selection of channels controlled by the same instrument session. DCPower channel groups can contain channels from different physical DCPower instruments.
    • Channel Group Name— Name of the channel group(s). The Channel Group Name is case sensitive and must not duplicate an instrument name or a group name on another instrument type.
      Note DCPower channels cannot be added to groups of other instruments.
    • Channel(s)— Channel(s) assigned to a channel group. When you add a new channel group, the Pin Map Editor prompts you to add channels to the new group. Define the channels as a comma-separated list (e.g., 0,1,3,...,n), a continuous range (e.g., 0:3), or as a combination of the two (e.g., 0:1,3).
      Note All channels for all instruments must be assigned to a channel group and no channel can be assigned to more than one group.
  • Convert DCPower Instruments— When you create a new DCPower instrument in the pin map file, Digital Pattern Editor 20.6 and later will create a single channel group containing all instrument channels. Digital Pattern Editor creates a single session for each channel group of DCPower instruments in the pin map file. Digital Pattern Editor 19.0 and earlier do not allow channel grouping . Pin maps created with Digital Pattern Editor 19.0 and earlier do not contain channel group information.

    Complete the following steps to convert all DCPower instruments in the pin map to use channel groups:

    1. Open the Pin Map Editor.
    2. Select the DCPower instrument in the Instruments section on the Pin Map tab.
    3. Click Convert DCPower Instruments.
    4. Click Yes to complete the conversion.
    Note

    • To use NI-DCPower channel groups you must use Digital Pattern Editor 20.6 or later and NI-DCPower Driver 2020 or later. Both are fully backwards compatible, but methods used by Digital Pattern Editor and the driver must change when using channel groups.