Data Storing & Triggering in DewesoftX

Course overview

The Data Storing & Triggering course guides you through DewesoftX’s powerful storage and trigger features, ensuring efficient and precise data capture.

You’ll start with understanding storing strategies—choosing between continuous full-speed recording (Always Fast), interval-based reduced storage (Always Slow), or hybrid/triggered approaches (Fast-on-Trigger variants). Triggered modes allow capturing critical events without filling up disk space.

Next, the course delves into trigger configuration, covering level-triggering, window conditions, slope detection, pulse durations, and using RMS or min/max values. These triggers automatically control data recording behavior within your acquisition setup.

You’ll also learn how to implement multi file setups, where files are automatically rolled based on file size, elapsed time, or priority events. Learn how to name files by timestamp or sequence, including pre-trigger data storage for context.

Sessions on Data Manager and storage options explain setting storage paths, enabling automated compression (DXZ), overwriting rules, and disk space safeguards to prevent data loss during long tests  .

An optional module shows scope-linked triggering, allowing users to arm or adjust triggers directly from the display panel, streamlining test control.

Finally, in Analysis mode, you’ll explore reviewing triggered data effectively: the interface enables browsing through events, zooming into each trigger, and exporting only relevant data segments.

By the end, you’re equipped to configure robust, event-driven recording setups, automate large data collections, and conduct targeted analytics with triggered data—all while optimizing file management and disk usage.

Storing strategies are very important for the entire measurement system. That is why DewesoftX offers multiple ways to store data.

You can view all storing options in Measure mode under the Storing tab.

The available storing options are:

• Always fast

• Always slow

• Fast on trigger

• Fast on trigger, slow otherwise

With the Always fast and Always slow options, you can select different static acquisition rates and units.

When you select one of the trigger-based storing options, the Trigger Setup tab will automatically appear on the setup screen.

Before explaining the other functions on the screen above, let’s first review how to name and save the files that will be stored.

You can change the folder where data is stored in the Folder section.

• • Project data files folder (Storing folder): The default storage path, which can be set in the project settings.

  • Custom folder: Any folder chosen from local storage.

  You can define the file name for each measurement separately by entering it in the Edit field.

For repetitive measurements, use the Create Multifile function.

The Multifile function automatically assigns a new file name for each storage cycle (start). File names can be generated either consecutively (e.g., 0001, 0002, 0003) or based on the date and time.

Additionally, you can define how a new file is created by selecting the Make a new file after checkbox. The criteria for switching to a new file can be based on file size, time interval (in seconds, minutes, or hours), or trigger events.

• MB: Creates a new file after the defined file size (in megabytes) is reached.

• h: Creates a new file after the defined time in hours has elapsed.

• min: Creates a new file after the defined time in minutes has elapsed.

• sec: Creates a new file after the defined time in seconds has elapsed.

• triggers: Creates a new file when the defined trigger occurs.

This feature is especially useful when acquiring data over longer periods. For example, if you choose to switch files every hour using absolute time, the switching will occur precisely on the hour (01:00, 02:00, 03:00, etc.). The time is taken from the absolute PC clock (or from another, more accurate timing source if available, as defined in the hardware setup). File switching is performed in a way that ensures no data points are lost during the process.

First, let’s look at how to store full-speed data. We will perform a short measurement with the SIRIUS data acquisition system and explain the use of the basic buttons.

To store measured data, you must be in Measure mode, where you will see the Store button.

To start storing, click the Store button on the main menu.

If the file you are trying to write already exists on the hard drive, a small Warning window will appear. You can either overwrite the existing file or choose a new file name.

Once confirmed, the data will be stored in the file at full speed.

When storing begins, you can choose between different storing options.

At this point, the Store button changes, and a Pause button becomes available.

If you click the Pause button, data will continue to be acquired, but storing to the file will be paused.

The button label then changes from Pause to Resume.

The Store button itself remains active. If you click it again, storing will resume. As a result, the data file will contain two distinct sections of data, which can be viewed in Analyse mode.

You can also choose to Stop and freeze the data storing process.

If no changes are made in the Storing settings and you go directly to Measure mode, the data will always be stored using the selected Dynamic acquisition rate. In this case, the data is stored in the file at full speed.

The procedure for storing data is the same as described earlier.

To start storing, click the Store button in the main menu.

Once storing begins, the data will be saved in the file at full speed.

The Store button then changes to:

If you click the Pause button, data acquisition will continue, but storing will be paused.

At this point, the Pause button changes to the Resume button.

The Store button remains unchanged.

If you click it again, storing will resume. As a result, the data file will contain two separate sections.

When you navigate to Analyse mode, you will see these two sections of data, with a blank gap in between where no data was stored.

The Always Slow storing function stores data at intervals defined by the Static/Reduced rate settings. Even though storing is set to slow, DewesoftX still acquires data at full speed, calculates the minimum, maximum, average, and RMS values for each time interval, and stores only these results.

In the example below, the static acquisition rate is set to 0.1 seconds. This means that significantly less disk space will be used for storing data.

If the data consists of events that can be captured, you can choose to store it using one of two trigger options. A trigger event can be defined in the software, and then DewesoftX will wait for this event and store only the portion of interest.

• If Start storing automatically is selected, data storage will begin as soon as you switch to any online display (scope, recorder, etc.).

• To stop storing, press the Stop button or press the F7 key on your keyboard. This function is independent of the storing type (fast, reduced, triggered, etc.) and can be combined with the autoload function for maximum automation.

When acquiring data at a slow speed, you can use the Always Slow storing option.

The data will be stored at intervals defined by the Static/Reduced rate (in this case, 0.1 seconds). As a result, much less disk space will be required. Even though storing is set to slow, DewesoftX still acquires the data at full speed, calculates the minimum, maximum, average, and RMS values for each interval, and stores only those values.

Finally, let’s store some data and examine how it appears in the Recorder. Below is an example of what the data looks like at full rate in Measure mode.

Now let’s switch to Analyse mode. The data will be displayed as the envelope of the original signal, since the full sampling rate is no longer available—only the 0.1-second values are stored. In the Recorder setup, you can also switch to Average or RMS modes to view those parameters.

The recorder below shows the RMS of the signal. By examining the Average, RMS, and Min/Max values, we can estimate the shape of the original signal. For example, if the maximum value is large but the average has not increased, we can deduce that there was a short spike in that channel.

If Fast on Trigger is selected, data will be stored at the dynamic rate once the trigger point occurs.

If the data consists of events that can be captured, you can choose the Fast on Trigger storing option. The trigger event can be defined in the software, and then DewesoftX will wait for this event and store only the relevant portion of data. Once this option is selected, a new Trigger tab will appear, where you can set the trigger conditions and strategy.

The main parameters you can configure are Pre-time, Post-time, and Holdoff-time.

Pre time

The time period stored before the trigger event occurs.
For example, if the pre-time is set to 100 ms, Dewesoft X  keeps the data in the buffer until the trigger event occurs. Then, in addition to the data after the trigger, it also stores the 100 ms of data that occurred before it.

Post time

The time period stored after the trigger event occurs.
If no post-time is defined, DewesoftX will continue storing until it is stopped manually or until a stop condition is met.

Holdoff time

The minimum time that must pass between one trigger event and the next.

In this example, we want to capture trigger shots. The post-time is set to 200 ms, which, together with the 100 ms pre-time, results in a total of 300 ms of data being captured per trigger event.Next, we need to define the trigger conditions for starting storage. To do this, click Setup to add and configure a trigger condition.

In the Trigger Setup window, you can choose the channels used for triggering. Multiple channels can be selected, but since this example involves only one, there is just a single choice.

Next, the trigger criteria must be defined. Triggers can be based on time-domain data, time, or FFT.

Time triggering options include edge, filtered edge, window, pulse-width, and more—applied to real data, average values, or RMS values.

For this simple application, a basic edge trigger with a trigger level of 0.5 V will be used. This means that when the value crosses the 0.5 V threshold, a trigger will be generated. The behavior of the trigger can already be tested in the scope located at the lower left side of the setup window.

Now let’s take some measurements. The user simply needs to meet the trigger criteria with the sensor to produce the necessary trigger. From the recorder, we can see that the first shot was not strong enough, so we applied a harder hit. That worked, and we can now observe the beginning of the storage event, the trigger event, and the end of the storage event.

Note that the Store button has now changed to the Arm button:

and an additional Trig button has appeared:

This is the manual trigger, which allows you to issue a trigger even without an actual event.

Now let’s review the data being stored. We can see that only the trigger events are saved, while the rest of the time the data remains blank. Also, notice that a new button, called Trigger Mode, is available in the data preview. This provides a quick way to review trigger events without zooming manually. When clicked, the first trigger event is automatically zoomed in.

The Trigger Mode button then changes to an Arrows button, which allows you to browse between events. If these two buttons are used together, the recorder displays the trigger events one by one. In the data preview, the currently selected trigger event is highlighted. To zoom out to the full region and exit Trigger Mode, right-click on the recorder.

Data is stored at the dynamic rate during trigger points and at the reduced rate when no trigger is present.

To acquire data at two speeds, you can use the Fast on Trigger, Slow Otherwise strategy. All the settings for this mode are the same as for Fast on Trigger. However, it should be noted that when using this strategy, if the user acquires and reloads similar data, the regions without trigger events will be reduced. This is illustrated in the example below.

By zooming in on the data, you can clearly see the reduced stored data before the trigger, where only the minimum and maximum signal values are preserved. Once the trigger event occurs, the full-speed data becomes visible.

When Static mode is selected, the system continues running at the dynamic sample rate shown in the Dynamic Acquisition Rate box. However, it does not store every data point. Instead, the system continuously reduces the data according to the Static/Reduced rate selected.

You can select a value from the drop-down list, such as 0.1 seconds. This means that reduced data will be available every 0.1 seconds.

If you select AUTO, the Static/Reduced rate will be adjusted automatically, depending on the dynamic acquisition rate setting.

You may also enter custom values, but note that not all values will be accepted. If an invalid value is entered, the actual accepted value will be displayed below the drop-down list.

For example, if the Dynamic rate is set to 1000 Hz and the Static rate to 5 seconds, and you choose to store at the static rate, the system will still sample at 1000 Hz but will only store the Min/Max/Average/RMS values for each input every five seconds.

This means that during each five-second interval, 5000 samples are taken per channel. Are they ignored? No—they are used to calculate the Min/Max/Average/RMS values, which are then saved at the static rate for each active input.

Thus, each reduced data point is derived from all 5000 samples collected for each channel between static intervals.

Change static/reduced rate scaling

Sometimes it is necessary to change the units for the Static/Reduced rate (Hz, sec, min, samples).

Simply click the small arrow next to the drop-down list to select a different unit.

For each unit selected, DewesoftX will automatically adjust the AUTO value (displayed in the Adjusted to field), based on the current dynamic acquisition rate setting.

On this screen, you can set Start and Stop trigger conditions:

• Trigger setup – defines the storage time before and after the trigger event.

• Start trigger setup – defines the condition for starting storage (or Don’t store setup).

• Stop trigger setup – defines when storage should be stopped.

Trigger setup

The Trigger Setup allows you to control how much data is stored before and after a trigger event. Four settings can be used to achieve the desired result:

In the following example, the Pre-time is set to 0.1 sec and the Post-time is set to 0.2 sec, so a total of 300 ms of data will be captured per trigger event.

Start trigger setup

When you open the Trigger Setup for the first time, no Start trigger condition is defined:

You can then use the following buttons:

• + (Add button): Adds a new trigger condition, which immediately appears in the list.

• – (Remove button): Removes the selected trigger condition from the list.

Use the Add button to create a new Start trigger condition:

After pressing the Add button, additional trigger settings appear:

• An empty Don’t store conditions section in the Start trigger setup area of the screen.

• An empty Stop trigger conditions section in the Stop trigger setup column.

By default, the trigger condition is set to a Simple edge trigger with a positive edge on the first active analog input channel.

When you click the Setup button on the trigger condition line in the DewesoftX Setup screen, the Condition Setup window opens, allowing you to configure the trigger condition settings.

''Don't store'' setup

The Don’t store trigger condition and its Setup work in exactly the same way as the Start trigger setup. This function can be used to suppress data storage under a defined condition.

For example, imagine a machine producing a certain part while you are measuring the pressure. The system should trigger when the pressure rises above a certain limit. However, you may only want to store the data if there is actually a part present in the machine. In this case, you can connect a signal to another channel that indicates whether the unit is present or not and use this result as a Don’t store condition.

Stop trigger setup

The Stop trigger condition and its Setup work in the same way as the Start trigger setup (see above). The only difference is that this section defines when the storage should stop.
If needed, you can use the Post time feature from the Timing setup to extend the storage duration.

Remove a trigger condition

To remove a trigger condition, simply click on the trigger illustration or its description field to select it. The selected field will be highlighted. Then press the minus (-) button to remove it.

Trigger control elements

To activate the selected trigger condition, switch to an online display (such as the scope, recorder, etc.) and press the Arm button on the main DewesoftX toolbar or the F5 key on the keyboard. As soon as the trigger condition is met on the input, the data will be stored in a file.

When the trigger condition is active, an additional Trig button appears, indicating that triggered storing is in use. This button can also be pressed to issue a manual trigger.

If you want to force a trigger event, even when the condition is not present, press the Trig button or the F6 key on the keyboard. When this happens, trigger shots will appear in the scope, and the Trig button will flash.

If multiple trigger events occur, all of them will be stored in the same file. DewesoftX also provides a dedicated analysis feature in Analyse mode for convenient data review and analysis.

DewesoftX offers several different trigger conditions, which can be set in the Condition Setup window. Trigger conditions can be combined independently using the OR function. This means that any defined trigger condition only needs to become true for the trigger to activate.

When we select the Setup button on the Setup screen under the trigger condition line, the following Condition Setup window appears:

In the Condition Setup window, you can configure all trigger condition settings. The Source section contains a channel list divided into two tabs. The All chs tab displays all available channels, while the AI tab filters and shows only analog input channels.

At the bottom of the window, the current signal value is displayed. White vertical lines indicate the moments when the trigger condition becomes true.

On the right side of the screen, the Trigger On section contains the trigger settings. These fields vary depending on the selected trigger type. Below the trigger settings, a symbolic trigger curve is displayed.

Choose the trigger condition that best meets your requirements, and press the OK button to confirm and apply the trigger settings.

Trigger type

The following trigger types are supported:

• Data

• Time

• FFT

To set up a data trigger, follow these steps:

1. Define the trigger

2. Define the mode

3. Set up other trigger conditions

Define the trigger

When the data trigger is selected, you can choose between Real Data, Average, or RMS from the dropdown list for your trigger condition..

Define the mode

Select the trigger type Simple Edge, Filtered Edge, Window, Pulse Width, or Slope from the dropdown list.

Set up other trigger conditions

These settings (e.g., Slope, Trigger Level, Rearm Level, Pulse Time) depend on the selected trigger type in the Mode field.

Trigger mode and settings

Dewesoft offers the following triggering options:

• Simple edge

• Filtered edge

• Window

• Pulse-width

• Window and Pulse-width

• Slope

Simple edge

This is the most commonly used trigger condition in data acquisition systems. A trigger event occurs when a rising or falling edge crosses a defined level.

Positive slope

Negative slope

Filtered edge

This trigger type is essentially the same as the simple edge trigger, except for the rearm level. The rearm level defines a second threshold that must be crossed before the trigger condition can become true again. This trigger type is most often used with very noisy signals.

Positive slope

Negative slope

Window

The window trigger works with two independent levels that form a window. The trigger condition becomes true when the signal either enters or leaves this window.

Enters range

Leaves range

Pulse-width

The pulse-width trigger, in addition to checking the level (similar to the simple edge trigger), also evaluates the event duration. It triggers only if the signal remains above the selected level for a time longer than the defined duration.

Positive pulse

Negative pulse

The shorter-than-time trigger, in addition to checking the level (similar to the simple edge trigger), also evaluates the event duration. It triggers only if the signal remains above the selected level for a time shorter than the defined duration.

Positive pulse

Negative pulse

Window and pulse-width

The window and pulse-width condition combines the features of both the window and pulse-width triggers. It is a powerful option, but it requires a clear understanding of the expected trigger behavior.

Longer than time

Level in range

Level out of range

Shorter than time

Level in range

Level out of range

Slope

Smoother than Delta time

Positive slope

Negative slope

Any slope

Steeper than Delta time

Negative slope

Any slope

You can set up the time trigger by selecting Time from the Trigger On dropdown menu. The time trigger offers the following format options:

• Absolute (time only)

• Relative

Absolute (time only)

Relative

Until now, triggers have been based only on amplitude values over time and/or directly on time. The FFT trigger allows triggering on amplitude values in the frequency domain.

This type of trigger is especially useful in dynamic applications where monitoring the frequency behavior of the system under test is required.

FFT trigger options

To trigger on frequency changes, you must define the FFT options to obtain a usable result:

• Number of lines (256 to 64k)

• Window type (Rectangular, Hanning, Hamming, Flat Top, Triangle, Blackman, Exponent Down)

• Overlap (0%, 25%, 50%, 66%, 75%)

The preview in the lower-left area immediately shows the effect of these changes on the FFT. The display can be set to either Logarithmic (see example below) or Linear.

Limit table

After configuring the FFT options, you must define:

• Number of points (set in the Limits table)

• Limits – Amplitude levels for f [Hz] in the Limits table

By default, the number of points is 2, and the standard amplitude level is 1 for both 0 Hz and the maximum frequency. You can click this field to change the value if needed.

You can increase the number of points to expand the table (e.g., six in the example below).

You can now define the limits in two ways:

1. Enter the values manually – When entering values directly into the table, you usually define a frequency mask from a chosen viewpoint.

2. Take the current measurement from the system – Alternatively, you can create a frequency mask from the currently displayed signal. To do this, simply press the Get Current Data button.

The currently calculated FFT will be stored as a mask and displayed both in the preview window and in the table in the lower-left corner.

You can then manipulate the mask either by editing the table or, much faster, by pressing the buttons to move the limit up/down or to add/remove limits in the frequency domain.

Examples:

The data header allows defining input fields where operators can enter additional, non-measured parameters at the start or end of the measurement.

Icon bar

The icon bar at the top of the window allows you to change the right section of the window. We will now check the icon by icon the functions. They can be used to create, delete, or move fields. The currently selected field will have an orange box around it.

Info field

The Info button adds a new line in the right section of the window.

Simply click on the new line and enter the desired text, for example: “File header information.”

Input field

The Input field can be used for any single-line values or comments (for example, location information). To create a new field, press the Input icon.

… and rename it (for example, to “Location”). To rename the field, simply click on the input name and overwrite it.

Selection field

The Selection field can be used to create a list of values. It is especially useful when you need to use the same value frequently, for example, a list of usernames or departments within your company.

To create a new list, press the Selection icon.

… and label it (for example, “User”). Click on Selection and overwrite it.

Now you need to define the content of your list. To do this, press the … button on the right side. The Create Selection List window will appear.

Enter the desired names in the New Item field, and then press the Add Item button.

The name will appear in the list on the left side, labeled “User1” in our example.

Enter as many names as needed. You can also edit values directly in the list by selecting an item.

To remove an item, select it from the list on the left side and press the Remove Item button. When all names have been entered, press the OK button to confirm, or Cancel to discard all entries.

The result of these entries is the following dropdown list in the global header window:

Position up/down

Using the Up and Down buttons, you can change the position of the following fields:

• File Name field

• Comments field

• Input field

• Selection field

• Info field (as created above)

You can rearrange the position of fields at any time. Simply select a field (it will be highlighted with a red box) and move it up or down using the appropriate button.

For example, if you want to move the previously created Info field to the top of the window, press the Move Up button twice.

Delete field

To remove unused or unnecessary fields, select the field and press the Delete icon. The only field you cannot delete is the File Name entry field.

The Ask for Header on Start option opens a window with all entries before data storage begins. The Ask for Header on End option opens the same window when the measurement is stopped.

The Data Manager is a new DewesoftX plugin for copying acquired data either to an FTP server or to a local folder.

Main functions of Data Manager:

• Copy files to network drives

• Copy files to an FTP server

• Stop measurement / Shut down the PC

• Remove old files

You can download Data Manager from the Download section  on our website.

To add a Data Manager extension, first open Settings in the upper-right corner of the screen. In the Settings window, go to the Extensions section and click New Extension using the + button.

After pressing OK, you will see that the Data Manager has been added to the Extensions list.

The next step is to open Channel Setup and access Data Manager by selecting it from the toolbar.

The Data Manager screen is divided into three sections:

• Stop and Shut Down

• Transfer Files

• Remove Files

Stop and shut down

You can choose when to stop storing data or shut down the computer. This can be done either after the selected Async channel has no new data to store within the specified timeout or after the file has been transferred.

If you choose the first option, you need to select the Async Channel, timeout, and action type.

Transfer files

You can transfer files either to a specific location on a disk or to an FTP server. You can also decide whether to copy all files or every n-th file.

If transferring files to a disk location, simply select the directory where the data will be copied. You can also view all existing files there.

If transferring data to an FTP server, you need to enter specific information such as Host, Port, Local Folder, etc.

Additional options are also available. You can choose to rename existing files, overwrite them, skip them, or resume them. You can also decide to delete files after transferring them and re-copy files that were not transferred successfully. Some FTP servers require a passive connection, so it is always recommended to test the connection to ensure it works properly.

Remove files

The last section allows you to remove specific files.

You can set the number of days that must pass before files are automatically removed from the local folder. WARNING: This option will permanently remove all old files from the data folder.

By default, DewesoftX stores files using Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). However, it can display stored data in local time, UTC, or telemetry time.

A potential issue arises when files are recorded in one time zone but viewed in another. For example, if a file was recorded in Russia at 10:00 p.m., it would be stored as 7:00 p.m. UTC. When viewed in the UK, the file time would correctly appear as 7:00 p.m. (local time).

When working with customers on applications such as long-range rocket testing, the situation can become even more complex because the time zone may change during recording every few minutes. To address this, DewesoftX provides the option to display file time in local time, UTC, or Telemetry UTC (day of the year).