Databases

The following tables list the database template files that are used with the LabJack modules.

Device Functions

These are the records defined in LabJack_device.template. These records provide device-wide information and control. This database is loaded once for each LabJack device.

EPICS record name	EPICS record type	asyn interface	drvInfo string	Description
$(P)ModelName	mbbi	asynInt32	MODEL_NAME	Device model name. mbbi values and strings are 0=”T4” 1=”T7” 2=”T7-Pro” 3=”T8”.
$(P)FirmwareVersion	stringin	asynOctet	FIRMWARE_VERSION	Device firmware version.
$(P)SerialNumber	stringin	asynOctet	SERIAL_NUMBER	Device serial number.
$(P)DeviceTemperature	ai	asynFloat64	DEVICE_TEMPERATURE	Device temperature. This is used as the cold junction reference temperature for thermocouple measurements. It has SCAN=”5 second” which is fast enough for this slowly varying value.
$(P)LJMVersion	stringin	asynOctet	LJM_VERSION	Version of the LabJack LJM library.
$(P)DriverVersion	stringin	asynOctet	DRIVER_VERSION	Version of the EPICS driver.
$(P)LastErrorMessage	waveform	asynOctet	LAST_ERROR_MESSAGE	The last error message from the driver. This includes a timestamp.
$(P)PollSleepMS	ao	asynFloat64	POLL_SLEEP_MS	The number of milliseconds to sleep at the end of each poll cycle.
$(P)PollTimeMS	ai	asynFloat64	POLL_TIME_MS	The actual number of milliseconds to execute the poll cycle, including the sleep.
$(P)AiAllSettlingUS	ao	asynFloat64	ANALOG_IN_SETTLING_TIME_ALL	Selects the settling time for all analog input channels.
$(P)AiAllResolution	mbbo	asynInt32	ANALOG_IN_RESOLUTION_ALL	High values of resolution result in lower noise and longer ADC conversion time. Resolution 0 is the default resolution for that model. The T4 supports resolutions 1-5. The T7 supports resolutions 1-8. The T7-PRO supports resolutions 1-12. 1-8 use the 16-bit ADC and 9-12 use the 24-bit ADC. When running the waveform generator on the T7-PRO this must be set to values between 1-8, i.e. 16-bit ADC. The driver will set this automatically when starting the waveform generator if it is outside the allowed range. The T8 supports resolutions 1-16. However, it is recommended to use the default resolution and change the SamplingRate to control the resolution vs speed tradeoff.
$(P)AiSamplingRate	ao	asynFloat64	ANALOG_IN_SAMPLING_RATE	This sets the sampling rate of the ADC in Hz. It applies to the T8 only. Recommended range is 100 to 10000 Hz. Lower rates do more filtering in the ADC, reducing noise at the expense of speed. Increasing the sampling rate will increase the noise in each reading. However, since the analog input records use the devAsynFloat64Average device support, increasing the rate can increase the number of samples averaged in the EPICS device support in a fixed period of time, provided it is not limited by PollSleepMS. Because of this averaing in device support, increasing the sampling time from 100 Hz to 1000 Hz can actually result in a small decrease in noise. The maximum rate that the values can be read from the device with PollSleepMS=0 is about 2000/s, so increasing the SamplingRate beyond 2000 will not result more averaging in EPICS device support.
$(P)DeviceReset	bo	asynInt32	DEVICE_RESET	Processing this record sets the device watchdog time to 10 s, and the watchdog timer function to device reset. This will reset the device after 10 seconds of communications inactivity. Processing this record, exiting the IOC application, and waiting at least 10 seconds will cause the device to reset. This can be used to remotely recover from a device malfunction that requires a reset. Note that the device will continue to reset every 10 seconds until the IOC successfully starts again. The IOC may occasionally fail to start after a DeviceReset because the device is currently resetting. Trying again will eventually succeed.

Analog Input Functions

These are the records defined in LabJack_ai.template. This database is loaded once for each analog input channel

EPICS record name	EPICS record type	asyn interface	drvInfo string	Description
$(P)Ai$(N)	ai	asynFloat64	ANALOG_IN_VALUE	Analog input value. This is polled in the driver, so either period or I/O Intr scanning can be used.
$(P)AiEnable$(N)	bo	asynInt32	ANALOG_IN_ENABLE	Enable flag for this analog input channel. Disabled inputs are not read by the poller. Unconnected inputs should be disabled to improve accuracy on active channels and to reduce the polling time.
$(P)AiMode$(N)	mbbo	asynInt32	ANALOG_IN_MODE	Input mode for this analog input channel. Choices are Volts and 9 different thermocouple types.
$(P)AiTempUnits$(N)	mbbo	asynInt32	TEMPERATURE_UNITS	Temperature units for this analog input channel if a thermocouple mode is selected. Choices are “K”, “C”, and “F”.
$(P)AiDiff$(N)	mbbo	asynInt32	ANALOG_IN_DIFF	Selects “Single-Ended” or “Differential” input mode on the T7 and T7-PRO. The T4 is always single-ended and the T8 is always differential. The driver constructs the strings and values based on the model.
$(P)AiRange$(N)	mbbo	asynInt32	ANALOG_IN_RANGE	Selects the input range for this analog input channel. On the T4 the range is fixed at +-10V on channels 0-3 and 0-2.5 on channels 4-11. On the T7 the range choices are +-10V, +-1V, +-0.1V, and +-0.01V. On the T8 there are 11 ranges from +-11V to +-0.15V. The driver constructs the strings and values based on the model.
$(P)AiResolution$(N)	mbbo	asynInt32	ANALOG_IN_RESOLUTION	Selects the input resolution for this analog input channel. High values of resolution result in lower noise and longer ADC conversion time. Resolution 0 is the default resolution for that model. The T4 supports resolutions 1-5. The T7 supports resolutions 1-8. The T7-PRO supports resolutions 1-12. 1-8 use the 16-bit ADC and 9-12 use the 24-bit ADC The T8 supports resolutions 1-16. However, these are automatically selected by the Range, and this record has no effect?

The following is the medm screen for controlling the analog input configuration records.

LabJack_T7_AiSetup.adl

While this screen is nominally specific to the T7 and T7-PRO, it can be used for any model. On the T8 analog inputs 8-13 do not apply and the inputs are always in Differential mode. On the T4 analog inputs 12-13 do not apply. Thermocouples only work well with the T7-PRO in 24-bit mode (resolutions 9-12), or with the T8 with low-voltage ranges. They do not work well with the T4 or T7.

Analog Output Functions

These are the records defined in LabJack_Ao.template. This database is loaded once for each analog output channel

EPICS record name	EPICS record type	asyn interface	drvInfo string	Description
$(P)$(R)	ao	asynFloat64	ANALOG_OUT_VALUE	Analog output value.
$(P)$(R)TweakVal	ao	N.A.	N.A.	The amount by which to tweak the out when the Tweak record is processed.
$(P)$(R)TweakUp	calcout	N.A.	N.A.	Tweaks the output up by TweakVal.
$(P)$(R)TweakDown	calcout	N.A.	N.A.	Tweaks the output down by TweakVal.

The following is the medm screen for configuring the analog output records. The drive limits can be more restrictive than the full output range of the analog outputs.

Channels 0 and 1 are the on-board DACs on all models. The range is 0-5V for the on-board DACs on the T4, T7, and T7-PRO, and 0-10V on the T8.

Channels 2 and above are the LJTick DACs that can be optionally installed on any model. The range on the LJTick DACs is +-10V.

LabJack_T7_AoSetup.adl

The following is the medm screen for controlling the optional LJTick DACs.

LabJack_LJTick_DAC2.adl

Digital I/O Functions

These are the records defined in LabJack_binary.template and LabJack_biWord.template.

EPICS record name	EPICS record type	asyn interface	drvInfo string	Description
$(P)Bi$(N)	bi	asynUInt32Digital	DIGITAL_IN_WORD	Digital input value. The MASK parameter in the INP link defines which bit is used. The binary inputs are polled by the driver poller thread, so these records should have SCAN=”I/O Intr”.
$(P)Bo$(N)	bo	asynUInt32Digital	DIGITAL_OUT_BIT	Digital output value. The ADDR parameter in the INP link defines which bit is used.
$(P)Bd$(N)	bo	asynUInt32Digital	DIGITAL_DIRECTION	Direction of this I/O line, “In” (0) or “Out” (1). The MASK parameter in the INP link defines which bit is used.
$(P)$(R)	longin	asynUInt32Digital	DIGITAL_INPUT	Digital input value as a word, rather than individual bits. The ADDR parameter in the INP link defines which word is read. 0=DIO (bits 0-23), 1=FIO (bits 0-7), 2=EIO (bits 8-15), 3=CIO (bits 16-19), and 4=MIO (bits 20-22). The binary inputs are polled by the driver poller thread, so these records should have SCAN=”I/O Intr”.

Waveform Digitizer Functions

These records are defined in the following files: - LabJack_waveformDig.template. This database is loaded once per module. - LabJack_waveformDigN.template. This database is loaded for each digitizer input channel.

EPICS record name	EPICS record type	asyn interface	drvInfo string	Description
$(P)WaveDigNumPoints	longout	asynInt32	WAVEDIG_NUM_POINTS	Number of points to digitize. This cannot be more than the value of maxInputPoints that was specified in LabJackConfig.
$(P)WaveDigFirstChan	mbbo	asynInt32	WAVEDIG_FIRST_CHAN	First channel to digitize, 0-13.
$(P)WaveDigNumChans	mbbo	asynInt32	WAVEDIG_NUM_CHANS	Number of channels to digitize. 1-14. The maximum valid number is 13-FirstChan+1.
$(P)WaveDigTimeWF	waveform	asynFloat32Array	WAVEDIG_TIME_WF	Timebase waveform. These values are calculated when Dwell or NumPoints are changed. It is typically used as the X-axis in plots.
$(P)WaveDigCurrentPoint	longin	asynInt32	WAVEDIG_CURRENT_POINT	The current point being collected. This does not always increment by 1 because the device can transfer data in blocks.
$(P)WaveDigDwell	ao	asynFloat64	WAVEDIG_DWELL	The time per point in seconds. The minimum time depends on the device type and NumChans.
$(P)WaveDigDwellActual	ai	asynFloat64	WAVEDIG_DWELL_ACTUAL	The actual time per point in seconds. This may differ from the requested Dwell because of clock granularity in the device.
$(P)WaveDigTotalTime	ai	asynFloat64	WAVEDIG_TOTAL_TIME	The total time to digitize NumChans*NumPoints.
$(P)WaveDigResolution	mbbo	asynInt32	WAVEDIG_RESOLUTION	The ADC resolution to use for all channels during the scan. The choices are model-dependent and are set by the driver.
$(P)WaveDigSettlingTime	ao	asynFloat64	WAVEDIG_SETTLING_TIME	The ADC settling time in microseconds to use for all channels during the scan. 0 selects the device default.
$(P)WaveDigExtTrigger	bo	asynInt32	WAVEDIG_EXT_TRIGGER	The trigger source, “Internal” (0) or “External” (1). NOTE: NOT YET IMPLEMENTED.
$(P)WaveDigExtClock	bo	asynInt32	WAVEDIG_EXT_CLOCK	The clock source, “Internal” (0) or “External” (1). If External is used then the Dwell record does not control the digitization rate, it is controlled by the external clock. However Dwell should be set to approximately the correct value if possible, because that builds the time axis for plotting. NOTE: NOT YET IMPLEMENTED.
$(P)WaveDigAutoRestart	bo	asynInt32	WAVEDIG_AUTO_RESTART	Values are “Disable” (0) and “Enable” (1). This controls whether the driver automatically starts another acquire when the previous one completes.
$(P)WaveDigRun	busy	asynInt32	WAVEDIG_RUN	Values are “Stop” (0) and “Run” (1). This starts and stops the waveform digitizer. It will automatically stop when the requested number of samples have been acquired.
$(P)WaveDigReadWF	busy	asynInt32	WAVEDIG_READ_WF	Values are “Done” (0) and “Read” (1). This reads the waveform data from the device buffers into the waveform records. Note that the driver always reads device when acquisition stops, so for quick acquisitions this record can be Passive. To see partial data during long acquisitions this record can be periodically processed.
$(P)WaveDigVoltWF$(N)	waveform	asynFloat64Array	WAVEDIG_VOLT_WF	This waveform record contains the digitizer waveform data for channel N. This record has scan=I/O Intr, and it will process whenever acquisition completes, or whenever the ReadWF record above processes. The data are in volts or temperature units.

This is the medm screen that controls the waveform digitizer.

LabJackWaveDig.adl

This is a plot of the waveform digitizer waveform for analog input 0 capturing 1000 samples/s (Dwell=0.001).

LabJackWaveDigPlot.adl

Waveform Generator Functions

These records are defined in the following files: - LabJack_waveformGen.template. This database is loaded once per module. - LabJack_waveformGenN.template. This database is loaded for each waveform generator output channel.

EPICS record name	EPICS record type	asyn interface	drvInfo string	Description
$(P)WaveGenNumPoints	longin	asynInt32	WAVEGEN_NUM_POINTS	Number of points output waveform. The value of this record is equal to UserNumPoints if user-defined waveforms are selected, or IntNumPoints if internal predefined waveforms are selected.
$(P)WaveGenUserNumPoints	longout	asynInt32	WAVEGEN_USER_NUM_POINTS	Number of points in user-defined output waveforms. This cannot be more than the value of maxOutputPoints that was specified in LabJackConfig.
$(P)WaveGenIntNumPoints	longout	asynInt32	WAVEGEN_INT_NUM_POINTS	Number of points in internal predefined output waveforms. This cannot be more than the value of maxOutputPoints that was specified in LabJackConfig.
$(P)WaveGenUserTimeWF	waveform	asynFloat32Array	WAVEDIG_USER_TIME_WF	Timebase waveform for user-defined waveforms. These values are calculated when UserDwell or UserNumPoints are changed. It is typically used as the X-axis in plots.
$(P)WaveGenIntTimeWF	waveform	asynFloat32Array	WAVEGEN_INT_TIME_WF	Timebase waveform for internal predefined waveforms. These values are calculated when IntDwell or IntNumPoints are changed. It is typically used as the X-axis in plots.
$(P)WaveGenCurrentPoint	longin	asynInt32	WAVEGEN_CURRENT_POINT	The current point being output. This does not always increment by 1 because the device can transfer data in blocks.
$(P)WaveGenFrequency	ai	asynFloat64	WAVEGEN_FREQUENCY	The output frequency (waveforms/second). The value of this record is equal to UserFrequency if user-defined waveforms are selected, or IntFrequency if internal predefined waveforms are selected.
$(P)WaveGenDwell	ai	asynFloat64	WAVEGEN_DWELL	The output dwell time or period (seconds/sample). The value of this record is equal to UserDwell if user-defined waveforms are selected, or IntDwell if internal predefined waveforms are selected.
$(P)WaveGenDwellActual	ai	asynFloat64	WAVEGEN_DWELL_ACTUAL	The actual dwell time. This can be different from the requested dwell time (WaveGenDwell) because of the granularity of the device clock.
$(P)WaveGenUserDwell	ao	asynFloat64	WAVEGEN_USER_DWELL	The output dwell time or period (seconds/sample) for user-defined waveforms. This record is automatically changed if UserFrequency is modified.
$(P)WaveGenIntDwell	ao	asynFloat64	WAVEGEN_INT_DWELL	The output dwell time or period (seconds/sample) for internal predefined waveforms. This record is automatically changed if IntFrequency is modified.
$(P)WaveGenUserFrequency	ao	N.A.	N.A.	The output frequency (waveforms/second) for user-defined waveforms. This record computes UserDwell and writes to that record. This record is automatically changed if UserDwell is modified.
$(P)WaveGenIntFrequency	ao	N.A.	N.A.	The output frequency (waveforms/second) for internal predefined waveforms. This record computes IntDwell and writes to that record. This record is automatically changed if IntDwell is modified.
$(P)WaveGenTotalTime	ai	asynFloat64	WAVEGEN_TOTAL_TIME	The total time to output the waveforms. This is WaveGenDwellActual*NumPoints.
$(P)WaveGenExtTrigger	bo	asynInt32	WAVEGEN_EXT_TRIGGER	The trigger source, “Internal” (0) or “External” (1). NOTE: NOT YET IMPLEMENTED,
$(P)WaveGenExtClock	bo	asynInt32	WAVEGEN_EXT_CLOCK	The clock source, “Internal” (0) or “External” (1). If External is used then the Dwell record does not control the output rate, it is controlled by the external clock. However Dwell should be set to approximately the correct value if possible, because that controls the time axis on the plots. NOTE: NOT YET IMPLEMENTED.
$(P)WaveGenContinuous	bo	asynInt32	WAVEGEN_CONTINUOUS	Values are “One-shot” (0) or “Continuous” (1). This controls whether the device stops when the output waveform is complete, or immediately begins again at the start of the waveform.
$(P)WaveGenRun	busy	asynInt32	WAVEGEN_RUN	Values are “Stop” (0) and “Run” (1). This starts and stops the waveform generator. In one-shot mode the waveform generator stops automatically when all of the samples have been output.
$(P)WaveGenUserWF$(N)	waveform	asynFloat64Array	WAVEGEN_USER_WF	This waveform record contains the user-defined waveform generator data for channel N. The data are in volts. These data are typically generated by an EPICS Channel Access client.
$(P)WaveGenInternalWF$(N)	waveform	asynFloat64Array	WAVEGEN_INT_WF	This waveform record contains the internal predefined waveform generator data for channel N. The data are in volts.
$(P)WaveGenEnable$(N)	bo	asynInt32	WAVEGEN_ENABLE	Values are “Disable” and “Enable”. Controls whether channel N output is enabled.
$(P)WaveGenType$(N)	mbbo	asynInt32	WAVEGEN_WAVE_TYPE	Controls the waveform type on channel N. Values are “User-defined” “Sin wave”, “Square wave” “Sawtooth” “Pulse” “Random”. Note that if any channel is “User-defined” then all channels must be. Note that all internally predefined waveforms are symmetric about 0 volts. To output unipolar signals the Offset should be set to +-Amplitude/2.
$(P)WaveGenPulseWidth$(N)	ao	asynFloat64	WAVEGEN_PULSE_WIDTH	Controls the pulse width in seconds if Type is “Pulse”.
$(P)WaveGenAmplitude$(N)	ao	asynFloat64	WAVEGEN_AMPLITUDE	Controls the amplitude of the waveform. For internally predefined waveforms this directly controls the peak-to-peak amplitude in volts. For user-defined waveforms this is a scale factor that multiplies the values in the waveform, i.e. 1.0 outputs the user-defined waveform unchanged, 2.0 increases the amplitide by 2, etc. For both internal and used-defined waveforms changing the sign of the Amplitude controls the polarity of the signal.
$(P)WaveGenOffset$(N)	ao	asynFloat64	WAVEGEN_OFFSET	Controls the offset of the waveform in volts. For user-defined waveforms, this value is added to the waveform, i.e. 0.0 outputs the user-defined waveform unchanged, 1.0 adds 1 volt, etc.

This is the medm screen for the waveform generator.

LabJackWaveGen2.adl

This is a plot of an internal predefined sin wave waveform.

Plot of an internal predefined waveform (sin wave)