Controls: DDisk or File Menu >> DDisk Toggle
Macros: DDisk, DDiskRec

This option allows continuous recording to disk of files of any length up to the 4 GB limit imposed by the .WAV format. (If you instead want to save only short single-screen files, check out the " Save Trace As..." options in the File menu.)

All active channels will be recorded, whether they are currently displayed or not. If there are three active channels (say, two inputs and one output) the recording will actually contain 4 data channels, with the missing channel padded with silence. This is to maintain a standard .WAV file format, but this rule is used for .DQA and .DAT files as well.

DDisk recording can only be activated when there is something to record, so either Generator or Input, or both, must be active. The DDisk button will replace DD / Open on the main toolbar, and a disabled Record button will appear below the thin DDisk control dialog button.

Click the DDisk button to begin, or use the ALT+D keyboard accelerator. You may also use the File menu ( ALT+F, D). A standard Windows Save As dialog will pop up allowing you to specify the file name and type. The default .DQA type is preferable since it includes all relevant channel calibration information and Notes, and is still compatible with most other .WAV software. However, you may use the Save as type control to select plain .WAV or headerless .DAT if you prefer.

After you select the file name, it will be shown on the title bar of the main Daqarta window for the duration of the recording. The Record button becomes enabled and a greyed-out file position readout appears below the right end of the trace area. The message line prompts you to toggle recording on and off with the Record button or the INSert key. The line above that shows the amount of Free Disk Space remaining.

Once the recording starts, a small red indicator square is shown on the depressed Record button, and the file position readout becomes active and shows you how much data has been recorded as the recording proceeds. The Free Disk Space line will also continue to be updated.

Alternatively, before the Save As dialog appears you might be prompted to allow Daqarta to preset the maximum file size if you are low on disk space. Daqarta will attempt to maintain a reserve of about 1 MB of disk space, and will not allow DDisk recording to start if you have less than that.

During the recording Daqarta will actively monitor the remaining disk space and will end the recording early if needed to maintain the reserve.

You can suspend recording manually by toggling the Record button or the INS key. This does not pause the display, so you can continue to monitor activity. (By contrast, note that the Pause button only pauses the display, not the DDisk recording.) You can suspend and restart a recording as many times as desired; the actual file of the recording will contain only the active sections. This may be useful if you have periods of inactivity or spurious signals that would otherwise waste file space, and take time to scroll through when viewing the file later.

When you want to finally end the recording, toggle the DDisk button off or hit ALT+D. You will be given the option to keep or discard the file.

From the DDisk control dialog ( CTRL+D) you can set Write Size Preset to stop the recording automatically at a certain file length. You can also use Write PreStart to start the recording slightly before you hit the Record button or INS key!

Macro Notes:

The DDisk macro has no effect if any File Open or Save As dialog is already active, or if neither Generator nor Input is active.

DDisk= without a name will pop up the Save As dialog showing all DQA files, and showing the default 'DDisk' file name.

DDisk="MyFile" will pop up the Save As dialog with the default name set to MyFile. (Note that quotes are needed around all filenames in macros.) If you accept this by hitting Enter or the Save button in that dialog, Daqarta will assume you want to save a file named MyFile.DQA. If that file already exists, you will be prompted to replace it.

DDisk="MyFile.WAV" or DDisk="MyFile.DAT" will pop up the Save As dialog as above, but with the specified extension, and that is the file that Daqarta will prepare to write.

A.DDisk="MyFile" will prepare to save to MyFile.DQA directly, without any Save As dialog. Note that if the file already exists, it will be overwritten without any confirmation prompt. You can also specify the extension as above.

DDisk=">Field1" will use the contents of Field1 as the default file name, and A.DDisk=">Field1" will use that name directly.

DDiskRec=1 activates the Record button to begin recording data, and DDiskRec=0 stops recording. DDiskRec=x toggles the Record state.

To conclude the recording and save the file to disk, give the DDisk= macro again to toggle the DDisk button off. If you supply a file name (as in starting DDisk), it will be ignored.

• Back to Juxt Load File
• Ahead to Reading DDisk Files
• Daqarta Help Contents
• Daqarta Help Index
• Daqarta Downloads
• Daqarta Home Page
• Purchase Daqarta

Questions? Comments? Contact us!