NI FlexLogger

Send test data from your NI FlexLogger® data acquisition project to a Nominal dataset. Stream the channels you select as FlexLogger® acquires them, or upload FlexLogger®’s TDMS files as it closes them.

Releases and source code are on GitHub. Nominal also integrates with LabVIEW, TestStand and VeriStand.

Note

New to FlexLogger®? NI FlexLogger® is a configuration-based data acquisition tool for NI-DAQmx devices and other hardware. See ni.com/flexlogger.

The repository provides two plugins:

• Nominal-Streamer streams the input channels you select to Nominal live.

• Nominal-TDMS-Upload waits for FlexLogger® to close a TDMS file, then uploads everything FlexLogger® logged to it.

Requirements

To use the plugins, you need NI FlexLogger® in an edition that supports plugins.

To build them from source, you also need:

• LabVIEW 2020 SP1 or later, 64-bit

• The FlexLogger® Plug-In Development Kit version for your LabVIEW, from NI’s compatibility table

• The Nominal client for LabVIEW, installed from VIPM

Connect to Nominal

The plugins authenticate with a Nominal API key; see API keys setup. They write to a dataset, so you also need the dataset’s RID. To keep that data with the system it came from, attach the dataset to an asset. Keep the API key secret. The dataset RID is an identifier, not a credential.

Install the plugins

1. Download the zip from the latest release.

2. Extract it to the FlexLogger® plugins directory, C:\Users\Public\Documents\National Instruments\FlexLogger\Plugins\IOPlugins. The zip holds a Nominal-Streamer folder and a Nominal-TDMS-Upload folder.

3. If FlexLogger® is open, restart it. FlexLogger® loads plugins when it starts.

To build from source instead:

1. Clone the repository.

2. In LabVIEW, open the plugin’s project, Nominal-Streamer\Nominal-Streamer.lvproj or Nominal-TDMS-Upload\Nominal-TDMS-Upload.lvproj.

3. Under Build Specifications, right-click Nominal-Streamer Packed Library or Nominal-TDMS-Upload Packed Library and select Build.

The build installs the plugin in the same plugins directory. If your FlexLogger® project is open, close and reopen it to load the new build.

Load the plugin in FlexLogger®

1. Launch FlexLogger® and open or create a project.

2. On the Channel Specification tab’s toolbar, select Add channels > Plug-in, then Nominal-Streamer (live) or Nominal-TDMS-Upload (on file completion). Using both is redundant.

3. Click Configure, the gear at the right edge of the plugin’s header, and fill in its settings:

   • nominal api key: your API key.

   • dataset RID: the RID of the dataset to write to.

   • Select Channels (Nominal-Streamer only): the channels to stream.

Nominal-Streamer sends the channels you selected to Nominal as FlexLogger® acquires them. Nominal-TDMS-Upload uploads each TDMS file once FlexLogger® closes it.

If you find a bug or need help, open an issue on GitHub. Don’t post sensitive data or credentials there.

Trademarks

NI®, NI LabVIEW®, and NI FlexLogger® are registered trademarks of NI®. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.