You can simulate the NI SwitchBlock using Measurement & Automation Explorer (MAX) to develop, modify, and/or test an application without hardware. Using a simulated switch device to test an application eliminates the risk of hardware damage. Additionally, you can use a simulated switch device to evaluate an NI product for which you do not have hardware.
Tip   You can use the Switch Soft Front Panel to test the basic functionality of a simulated switch device and troubleshoot an application as you would with an installed and configured switch device.

Simulating a Carrier

Refer to the NI-DAQmx Simulated Devices topic in the Measurement & Automation Explorer Help for NI-DAQmx for detailed instructions about creating a simulated NI SwitchBlock carrier. When creating an NI-DAQmx simulated device, NI SwitchBlock carriers are categorized under Switches.

Inserting, Removing, or Modifying Simulated Cards in a Simulated Carrier

Complete the following steps to insert or remove simulated NI SwitchBlock cards in a simulated carrier in MAX.

  1. To launch the Simulated Cards panel, right-click the simulated carrier in the MAX device tree and select Insert or Remove Simulated Cards as shown in the following figure.


  2. For each slot in which you would like to insert a simulated card, select the card model you would like to simulate from the Card drop-down list as shown in the following figure.


    To leave a slot empty or remove a simulated card, select <None> from the Card list for that slot. If a multislot card is selected, the fields for the corresponding occupied slots are disabled. You can insert a multislot card only in slots that have an adequate number of empty slots after it. For example, you cannot insert a multislot card in the last slot of a carrier.
  3. When you have selected the cards you would like to simulate, select OK to update the configuration tree in MAX, or select Cancel to revert to the existing configuration. Once the configuration is applied, the right pane in MAX displays the updated card configuration.

Simulated cards can only be inserted into a simulated carrier. Each simulated card is initially configured as a single-card device. Refer to Configuring the NI SwitchBlock in MAX to combine multiple simulated cards into a device.